34 YEARS behind bars ... all for some tweets

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Full transcript:

Tweets take only seconds to post but, in Saudi Arabia, they can earn you decades in prison.

The Kingdom has ramped up its suppression of its critics on social media, jailing activists for what they say on Whatsapp, Twitter, and other apps.

A 29 year old women’s rights activist was recently arrested and jailed for Twitter and Snapchat posts calling for an end to the country’s male guardianship system.

Last year, another Saudi woman was sentenced to an outrageous thirty four years in prison for retweeting and posting in support of dissidents after she returned from her university in the UK to visit her home country.

This censorship campaign has even reached U.S. citizens.

An American woman living in Saudi Arabia was temporarily detained, and is now under a travel ban, after tweeting criticisms of the male guardianship system.

And another American who was originally sentenced to 19 years in prison last year while visiting the country was released, but is also unable to leave due to a travel ban.

In this case, he was arrested for years-old tweets he posted while in the United States that criticized Saudi Arabia’s human rights abuses.

The warning is clear: What you say in free countries can follow you to unfree ones — and land you in prison.