Saudi Arabia: Tuwaijri tweets

The powerful – and usually behind-the-scenes – head of Saudi Arabia’s royal court, Khalid Bin Abdelaziz Al-Tuwaijri, has started using Twitter. The private secretary to King Abdullah Bin Abdelaziz Al-Saud has had a dormant account since 2012; when, on 21 March, he actually began tweeting, his number of followers rapidly rose, from around 100,000 to 435,000 by 9 April. Tuwaijri said he was ready to receive and respond to direct messages from citizens who wanted to raise complaints to the royal court, and that he would deal with as many as possible.