Saudi Arabian Twitter users urged to expose Qatar sympathisers
Saudi Arabian Twitter users have been asked to expose names and identities of anyone showing sympathy with Qatar on the social media platform, with a senior Saudi official vowing to ‘follow’ every name reported via the social media site, reported Al Jazeera.
Saoud Al Qahtani, an adviser to the Saudi royal court, launched the hashtag #TheBlacklist urging Saudis to “put any names you think should be added to #TheBlacklist hashtag.”
Qahtani also tweeted that anyone who ‘conspires’ against Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, and Bahrain, all of which have cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, would be unable to escape trial.
#القائمة_السوداء : لن يعفى أي شخص يتآمر على الدول المقاطعة من المحاكمة حتى لو احتج أنه مجبر. ولن يعفى أصحاب الاسماء المستعارة منذ الآن.
Responding to Qahtani's message, Saudis began adding the names of dissidents and activists who had expressed solidarity with Qatar.
Anwar Gargash, the UAE's state minister for foreign affairs, was one of the first to express support for the blacklist, tweeting: ‘Saud al-Qahtani is an important voice ... and his tweet on the 'blacklist' is extremely important.’
الأخ سعود القحطاني صوت مؤثر في أزمة قطر،ومتابعته ضرورية، والأصوات المأجورة تسعى دون نجاح إلى مهاجمته، وتغريده عن القائمة السوداء مهم للغاية.
The UAE has banned all expression of sympathy with Qatar, making it a criminal offence punishable with up to 15 years in prison.
However, Qatar’s response to the crisis has been exactly the opposite. They never placed any restrictions on its users to speak about the crisis and even asked them to be respectful of their neighbours at all times.
#ILOVEQATAR