Thread by @iyad_elbaghdadi

The Bahraini regime is effectively declaring war on social media platforms by literally criminalizing the following of certain accounts, and threatening residents with prosecution if they do. How will @Twitter react?

https://twitter.com/FatimaYazbek1/status/1134334915460206593

Please retweet. Twitter absolutely needs to respond.

Twitter should allow at-risk users to hide their follow/following lists. It's a matter of immediate safety if they're going to be arrested and charged based on who they follow or who's following them.

https://twitter.com/SurfaceKrystal/status/1134425475433074689?s=19

This is a *very* serious escalation in crushing free speech in the Arab region and the world. @Twitter absolutely needs to act or this model will be replicated across the world.

https://twitter.com/SALAM_DHR/status/1134494068468326400

@Twitter If you allow them to do this without incident, @Twitter, it will be adopted across the Arab region. People who merely *follow* someone like me would be prosecuted. You *need* to act immediately.

https://twitter.com/billbostockUK/status/1134490778082926594

.@Twitter needs to implement as soon as possible a feature that allows users to hide their following/follower list. This isn't just a vanity feature - it's literally necessary to keep people from going to jail for using Twitter.

@Twitter Currently you can hide your follower/following list by having a private account. It should be possible to hide it even if you don't have a private account.