Tech Reckons With Saudi Cash After Journalist’s Brutal Murder
SA: Exactly, yeah, he was very solidly in the mainstream for the most part. He made a few waves after 9/11 by calling out people who were circulating conspiracy theories who tried to shift the blame for 9/11 away from Islam and away from Saudi Arabia. He was a devout man who wanted to take responsibility for Islamic extremism which really concerned him. But he really started to receive some scrutiny from the Saudi government when he began publishing moderate columns and pieces in favor of the Arab Spring, when that was occurring in the region. He had a lot of hope and he started to promote this idea that Saudi Arabia was due for reform as well and always again within the language of reform. He was never a radical and never wanted to be called a dissident he saw himself as a journalist first and foremost. And he was comfortable making a certain number of compromises that were necessary to operate in the kingdom up until the emergence of MbS, during which time he told me in interviews the atmosphere really shifted. There was an increasing sense of censorship, a need for absolute loyalty and he eventually felt he could not practice journalism with integrity and really reluctantly and with a lot of regret decided it was no longer safe for him to be in the kingdom and he actually got out shortly before many of his colleagues were locked up by the Crown Prince.
Tech reckons with Saudi cash after journalist’s brutal murder
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (also known as MBS) remains in regular contact with his adviser Saud al-Qahtani, who is accused of masterminding the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the Washington Post reported.
In 2020, the Post published an article with the headline "Suspected teen gunman Kyle Rittenhouse spotted cleaning Kenosha graffiti before shooting". In response, actress Viola Davis posted a photo on Instagram comparing the headline with the Post's 2012 headline about Trayvon Martin, which read: "Trayvon Martin had traces of marijuana in system at time of death, autopsy reveals." The caption stated: "We need to boycott publications that continue to criminalize innocent [people of color] after they have been murdered by the law!!!"[102]