Jailed Saudi dissident, sister sue Twitter under RICO act in spy case – The Washington Post

SAN FRANCISCO — The sister of an imprisoned Saudi dissident filed suit against Twitter Tuesday, arguing that it broke the law by letting employees reveal his identity to Saudi agents who then arrested him.The novel case, filed under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations statute, cites repeated security failures that allowed the spies working for Twitter to send information about thousands of anonymous users to the Saudi regime while royal funds were invested in the company, becoming one of its largest shareholders.The case was filed in the Northern District of California by American citizen Areej Al-Sadhan on her own behalf and that of her brother, Abdulrahman Al-Sadhan, who is jailed in Saudi Arabia under a 20-year prison sentence for supporting terrorism and prejudicing public order. An advance copy of the suit was provided to The Washington Post on condition it be kept confidential until it was filed.Various Saudi officials and the kingdom itself are also named as defendants in the scheme. They would typically qualify for sovereign immunity under U.S. law. But there is an exception for commercial ventures, which is typically invoked in contract disputes rather than investments.“Each member of the Saudi Criminal Enterprise participated in a conspiracy
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