Thread by @marcowenjones

The full list of defendants in the Ghada Oueiss lawsuit makes an interesting read. From Saudi and Emirate outlets, entities and news outlets, to a random collection of pro-Saudi trolls. It's essentially a cross section of the players in Gulf info war.

The complaint is broken down into three phases, a recruitment stage, a hacking stage, and a defamation stage. Of course the trolls come in more in the defamation stage...

One of the complaints is against Abdullatif al Shaikh - who is accused of issuing an implicit death threat via Twitter. (Incidentally al Shaikh is a regular feature on disinfo campaigns). An interesting aspect of the case is that it states that this could not have been done

without MBS's approval. Again, 'approval' here is an interesting term. Certainly in Saudi the state absolutely has a sense of what's going on in public, and where media criticism is heavily regulated, it is fair to say that 'tacit' approval certainly exists where there is no

condemnation.

From a disinformation perspective, one of the most interesting aspects of this case that I have been studying for some years is the role of co-opted international citizens in spreading propaganda. If states can harness and infiltrate organic networks of people to spread

propaganda then this fundamentally alters the disinformation landscape. It is hard to know to what extent such networks might be receiving things of value in exchange for their services, or buy into the propaganda and share it 'voluntarily'

The lawsuit uses the term to describe these American citizens as " U.S. agents of Defendants
MBS, Al Qahtani and Al-Asaker, among others."

Obviously the complaint raises attendant issues about whether defendants such as @305local might be violation of FARA for their concerted efforts to promote Saudi Arabia

One of the more sensational claims made here is that the infamous @katestewart22 (account now deleted) was part operated by Saud Al Qahtani and an English woman. If that turns out to be true then just wow.

The complaint accuses DarkMatter, a UAE based-firm of hacking Oueiss's phone with other defendants utilising that information to defame and attack Oueiss

Another interesting aspect of this, and the damage done by hacks, is the potential for 'forever war'. Here hackers can use threats to divulge information they obtained but have not yet released to induce continued and potentially permanent anxiety in their victim

Of course Al Arabiya gets a solid mention, this time for posting doctored images. What is very interesting about the anti Ghada campaign (and subsequent campaigns) is the interlocking role of multiple actors, from stage agencies to newspaper outlets, indicating co-ordination

The Platiff also requests a Jury Trial for all applicable cases. That would be interesting...