Saudi Arabia Arrests 22 For Spreading Online Videos

Saudi Arabia has arrested 22 people, including a Qatari national, for “inciting against public order” on social media, authorities said, following a crackdown on dissent.

Those detained had posted video clips online, the official Saudi Press Agency reported on Thursday, adding that authorities were investigating their motives and connections.

Activists dedicated to monitoring what they describe as “prisoners of conscience” reported on social media that at least eight prominent figures, including scholars, academics, television anchors and a poet, had been detained.

A Saudi security source told Reuters news agency that the suspects were accused of “espionage activities and having contacts with external entities including the Muslim Brotherhood”, which Riyadh has classified as a “terrorist” organisation.

Separately, SPA quoted the interior ministry as saying that 24 people were arrested in the northwestern province of Hail for “exploiting social networking sites to promote lies and exaggerations” with the aim of provoking “sedition and tribal tensions”.