8 social media videos that got people arrested in Saudi Arabia

In Saudi Arabia, the rise of social media has been synonymous with an increase in police arrests.  

Week after week, viral videos of people committing acts considered against the law in the ultra conservative kingdom go viral online. Most of them often lead to immediate arrests.  

From footage featuring a singer dabbing at a contest to another capturing an abusive man sexually assaulting a domestic worker, here are a few videos that sent people to jail in the kingdom. 

Saudi singer Abdallah Al Shaharani was arrested in Taif, Saudi Arabia, last year after a video of him dabbing at a musical contest went viral. 

In the footage, the aspiring artist was seen pulling off the dance move, which is officially prohibited by the country's anti-drug authority as many consider it a reference to weed and other narcotics. 

In August 2017, Jeddah police arrested a teenager who had performed the Macarena dance at the center of a Jeddah crosswalk. 

This came after a video of the teen performing the comical dance went viral on social media. 

In December 2017, Saudi authorities arrested an Egyptian man who sexually harassed a Filipino domestic worker in Riyadh. 

The arrest came hours after a video of the man assaulting the victim, later identified as Beth Lili, went viral, sparking outrage on social media.

The video was secretly filmed by the victim herself and she posted it on Facebook, pleading for help.

Soon after, activists uploaded the footage to Twitter and it immediately went viral.

*The video of the assault is still available online but we choose not to share it in line with our ethical standards.

A video of a teen 'spitting' on the holy Quran led to his arrest earlier last year. 

The footage sparked outrage among social media users in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and several other Gulf countries, with thousands calling on authorities to take action against the young man. 

A few days after it began circulating online, the teen was identified and arrested by authorities. 

A Saudi man who filmed himself killing tens of cats in Jeddah in the summer of 2017, was arrested and later sentenced to a year in jail. 

The unidentified man was fined 20,000 riyals ($5,332) and ordered to delete his social media accounts as the videos of him committing the horrifying crimes were shared on his Snapchat. 

Saudi Arabia's Mecca police department arrested a restaurant employee who was filmed talking to a woman behind a fast food eatery in the city earlier in 2017. 

The arrest came just days after footage of the woman approaching the man close to his workplace went viral on social media, sparking outrage among users who deemed the duo's behavior "immoral." 

Days after footage of an alleged gay wedding held in Saudi Arabia went viral on social media in January 2018, Mecca Police announced the arrest of everyone involved in it.

The arrest came days after footage capturing two men walking down what seems to be an outdoor aisle sparked online controversy in the ultra conservative kingdom. 

After a video captured him threatening civilians with a gun during a street fight in November 2017, Saudi prince Mashhoor bin Talal bin Saud, was arrested by Saudi authorities. 

The arrest came days after the footage went viral, sparking intense backlash among thousands who called on authorities to take action against bin Saud. 

Four other people involved in the fight and seen in the footage were also arrested at the time.