Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Brigadier General Saree: Operation achieved its objective successfully, forcing millions to flee to shelters, and halted air traffic at the airport.
Israeli media: Traffic halted in Ben Gurion following launch of Yemeni missile
Israeli media: Sirens sound in al-Quds, surrounding areas.
Al-Qassam Brigades: Our fighters spotted enemy helicopters landing to evacuate their troops and swiftly carried out a coordinated operation against the occupying forces entrenched in a house in al-Qarara
Al-Qassam Brigades: We detonated a tunnel entrance where several enemy soldiers had gathered in the town of al-Qarara and engaged them with light weapons
Al-Qassam Brigades: We struck an enemy force, causing casualties and injuries, by detonating a heavy explosive device in a house in the town of al-Qarara, south of the Gaza Strip
Brigadier General Kioumars Heydari, Commander of Iran’s Army Ground Forces, warned: Any act of aggression against Iran will result in the destruction of its origin and perpetrators
Speaking at a ceremony honoring war veterans, Salami declared: We will stand resolutely against the enemy
IRGC Commander, Major General Hossein Salami: We do not accept humiliation, nor do we believe in submission
Government Media Office in Gaza: So far, 7 bodies have been recovered, while two remain under the rubble, in a scene that epitomizes genocide.

KSA infiltrates Wikipedia, jails two top admins to control free speech

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: News websites
  • 6 Jan 2023 10:54
  • 1 Shares
4 Min Read

The two individuals are identified as Osama Khalid and Ziyad al-Sofiani, with the former receiving a 32-year sentence and Sofiani receiving an eight-year sentence.

  • x
  • Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales attending a hackathon in 2019 in KSA (MEMO)
    Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales attending a hackathon in 2019 in KSA (AFP)

Wikipedia has reportedly been "infiltrated" by Saudi Arabia which has imprisoned two of its senior admins in an attempt to exploit the free online encyclopedia's content, according to a joint statement on Thursday by Beirut-based SMEX, which advances digital rights across the Arab region, and the Washington-headquartered Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) activism group, which was founded by slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi. 

"Wikimedia's investigation revealed that the Saudi government had infiltrated the highest ranks in Wikipedia's team in the region," DAWN and SMEX's statement read, adding that Saudi Arabia hired a number of its citizens to act as "agents" in order to facilitate the infiltration.

16 users were banned last month by Wikimedia for "engaging in conflict of interest editing on Wikipedia projects in the MENA region," as part of efforts to control the content in favor of the kingdom's desires., which Wikimedia confirmed in its probe: "a number of users with close connections with external parties were editing the platform in a coordinated fashion to advance the aim of those parties."

Read next: Amnesty International calls on Ronaldo to address Human Rights in KSA

Dissent as a crime 

The two top admins confirmed and identified by the DAWN-SMEX joint statement were placed under arrest in September 2020. The two individuals were identified as Osama Khalid and Ziyad al-Sofiani, with the former receiving a 32-year sentence and Sofiani receiving an eight-year sentence.

DAWN's director of research for the Gulf region, Abdullah Alaoudh, relayed to AFP: "The arrests of Osama Khalid and Ziyad al-Sofiani on one hand, and the infiltration of Wikipedia on the other hand, show a horrifying aspect of how the Saudi government wants to control the narrative and Wikipedia," 

Counterterrorism laws were altered by KSA back in 2017 to entail dissent as a punishable crime, stipulating penalties of up to 10 years in prison for offending both the king and the crown prince, and "other acts of terrorism" would receive the death penalty.

Hundreds of activists, bloggers, academics, clerics, and other individuals have been detained by Saudi authorities ever since the law was amended for political activism. Recently, Saudi journalist Turki Al-Shalhoub, who previously triggered a public outcry for exposing Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s contentious plans against highly revered sites in KSA, tweeted in late December that the State Security Court had passed the ruling regarding the professor at the media faculty of Umm al-Qura University in Mecca, Muhammad bin Mohsin Basurrah. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

بسبب هذه التغريدات، حكمت محاكم التفتيش #السعودية على المحاضر في قسم الإعلام في جامعة أم القرى الاستاذ محمد بن محسن باصرة بالسجن 30 سنة!!! pic.twitter.com/J3ubVCkQF0

— تركي الشلهوب (@TurkiShalhoub) December 27, 2022

A Saudi opposition activist, Abdul Hakim bin Abdul Aziz, also revealed that the Saudi authorities had arrested his son, Yasser, from his university, as part of the Kingdom's aggressive crackdown against activists that criticize the performance of the ruling regime on social media.

Bin Abdul Aziz considered that the arrest of his son exposes "the oppression and tyranny of the ruling regime in Saudi Arabia and is a desperate attempt to force me to remain silent about the violations that the country is witnessing."

Over the past years, the country also redefined its anti-terrorism laws to persecute peaceful activists, repressing freedom of expression.

Read more: UN denounces Saudi 34-year sentence against female activist over tweet

  • Wikimedia
  • Ziyad Al-Sofiani
  • media
  • Wikipedia
  • KSA
  • Free Speech
  • Osama Khalid
  • Saudi Arabia

Most Read

Rachel Accurso criticized for speaking out on Gaza children crisis

Ms. Rachel accused of antisemitism for speaking out for Gaza children

  • Politics
  • 20 May 2025
Martyrs, injuries in violent Israeli bombardment of southern Gaza

Israeli operation fails; IOF launch violent strikes on Gaza

  • Politics
  • 19 May 2025
The spokesperson for the Yemeni Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, giving a statement on Friday, April 11, 2025 (Yemeni Military Media)

Yemeni Armed Forces declare Haifa Port under naval siege

  • Politics
  • 20 May 2025
Although the background information does not indicate direct US involvement, considering the broader geopolitical context, it is plausible that the US would have an indirect impact. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab El-Hajj)

Did 'Israel', US fight a proxy war with China in South Asia during the India-Pakistan escalation?

  • Feature
  • 19 May 2025

Coverage

All
War on Gaza

Read Next

All
President Donald Trump, left, departs with U.S. Military Academy Superintendent Lt. Gen. Steven W. Gilland after speaking to United States Military Academy graduating cadets during commencement ceremonies in West Point, N.Y., Saturday, May 24, 2025. (AP)
Politics

Trump: US Army not for imposing democracy or culture abroad

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Yad LaBanim Memorial in occupied al-Quds, occupied Palestine, on April 29, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Netanyahu Shin Bet pick opposed prisoner swap deal, stirring outrage

Palestinians struggle to receive cooked food distributed at a community kitchen in the Muwasi area of Khan Younis, in the Gaza Strip, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP)
Politics

UN refuses to cooperate with 'Israel', US firms in Gaza aid scheme

A woman displaying a portrait of martyred Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, shows her ink-stained thumb after casting her vote at a polling station during municipal elections in the town of Nabatieh, south Lebanon, Saturday, May 24, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Lebanon concludes municipal elections amid Israeli strikes on south

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS