Saudi Arabia deployed a Twitter army to harass journalist Jamal Khashoggi and other critics.
According to Reuters, the New York Times made the claim in a report on Saturday.
The efforts to sway public opinion included a Riyadh 'troll farm' and a suspected spy within Twitter.
The kingdom allegedly used that spy to monitor user accounts.
Saudi officials say Washington Post columnist Khashoggi died in a fight in its Istanbul consulate.