X has made more than 60 accounts belonging to Saudi dissidents, academics and independent media unavailable to users inside Saudi Arabia, according to the London-based human rights organisation ALQST. The restrictions have been applied through geoblocking, a system that allows content to remain visible in most countries while preventing users in a specified jurisdiction from seeing it. Account holders were told by X that their content had been withheld in the kingdom to comply with the platform's obligations under Saudi law.

A change in X's position

The move marks a significant change from the position X described earlier in the year. When Saudi authorities first sent legal requests concerning several dissident accounts, the company informed users that it had not acted and said it believed in defending their voices. By mid-July, however, notices reviewed by the Guardian said the content had been restricted inside the kingdom. ALQST said those affected include its founder, Yahya Assiri, and Abdullah Alaoudh, a United States-based activist who has criticised Saudi Arabia's human rights record. Other restricted accounts belong to exiled activists, Saudi academics and independent media organisations. The satirist Ghanem al-Masarir is also among those affected. Earlier this year, a British court ordered Saudi Arabia to pay him damages after finding that his phones had been hacked and that he had been assaulted in London. His X content was later withheld inside Saudi Arabia following a legal request from the kingdom.

What users were told

The notices did not say that the account holders had broken X's own platform rules. Instead, users were told that the restrictions were required by local law. A Saudi decree attached to the correspondence cited broad categories including public order, religious values, public morals and private life. That distinction matters. A platform can leave content online under its global standards while making it unavailable in a country where authorities say it is unlawful. The technical result is narrower than a worldwide suspension, but the political effect inside the country can be substantial: people most affected by Saudi policy lose access to criticism produced by Saudis living abroad.

A wider platform pattern

X is not the first major technology company to impose such restrictions. Earlier reporting found that Meta's Facebook and Instagram services, as well as Snapchat, had limited access to accounts after Saudi complaints. YouTube has also notified some creators that their channels would be blocked in the kingdom. ALQST has called on X, Meta, Snapchat and YouTube to restore access and explain how decisions were reached. Rights groups argue that companies should publish clearer information about the legal requests they receive, the rules they apply and whether users have any practical route to appeal.

Transparency and accountability

Geographic withholding sits at the intersection of national law and the global reach of technology platforms. Companies face legal pressure from governments in markets where they operate, but they also make choices about whether to challenge demands, how narrowly to apply restrictions and what information to disclose. For dissidents, the central issue is not whether the accounts still exist somewhere on the internet. It is whether people inside Saudi Arabia can find and read them. A page that remains visible in London or Washington can still be effectively silenced in Riyadh. X and the Saudi embassy in London had been approached for comment at the time of publication. Their responses, and any further account restrictions, will determine whether the current wave is a limited legal-compliance action or the start of a broader change in how the platform handles Saudi demands.