Amid Hacking Scandals: Google and X Block Yemeni Phone Numbers

Yemeni users on social media platforms have revealed that global platforms have stopped accepting Yemeni phone numbers. This coincides with an investigation by the Yemeni Fact-Checking Network (YFCN), which revealed hundreds of cases of Yemeni mobile phone numbers being hacked or used illegally.

The YFCN found that Google has been refusing to accept Yemeni numbers for at least two months. When prompted to enter their phone number to verify their identity while registering a new account, users are often met with an error message stating, "This phone number cannot be used to verify ownership." Previously, the message that appeared was "An error occurred, please try again later."

This development explains the low number of Google entries in the list of hacked or illegally used Yemeni phone numbers. Only 7 cases were recorded on Google in 5 days, compared to 1335 for the WhatsApp application.

The YFCN also confirmed that the X platform (formerly Twitter) has been refusing Yemeni phone numbers for account verification. The date when this problem started could not be immediately verified.

These developments, which add restrictions on Yemenis' access to social media networks, coincide with information that has been revealed about large-scale hacking and selling of Yemeni phone numbers. An investigation conducted by the YFCN revealed that a Yemeni phone number is hacked or used illegally every seven minutes, mostly on WhatsApp. This is based on statistics from a single group for illegal buying and selling.

The investigation, conducted by journalist Safia Mahdi and journalist Mohammed Nasser, also revealed complaints about the hacks and the neglect of the problem by some Yemeni telecom companies. While Yemen Mobile acknowledged that there were problems and said it was working to solve them, other companies, most notably "YOU" (formerly MTN) and SabaFon, did not announce any measures to protect users.

It is worth noting that the Yemeni Fact-Checking Network (YFCN.ORG) is a Yemeni initiative launched by a number of Yemeni journalists to contribute to the development of fact-checking and information verification journalism, in light of the challenges and increasing need resulting from the massive flow of information on social networks and related platforms.