re: #32 wheat-dogg, raker of forests, master of steam

Related. Rahaf was saved by social media, specifically Twitter. She created an account while holed up in the airport hotel in Bangkok, and within hours was tweeting directly with journalists and human rights activists. Saudi officials refused to comment to Reuters for their story, but the kicker is this bit.

“When she first arrived in Thailand, she opened a new site (account) and the followers reached about 45,000 within one day,” a Saudi official speaking in Arabic through a translator tells Thai officials in the video.

“I wish you had taken her phone, it would have been better than (taking) her passport,” the official said [to Thai immigration officers].

reuters.com

Twitter may sometimes harbor the scum of the Earth, but it can also be a powerful tool for good.