FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 15, 2025

Contact: Michael Clauw, mclauw@campaignforaccountability.org, 202.780.5750

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Accounts for key figures in al-Qaida, Hezbollah, the Houthis and other U.S.-sanctioned terrorists are obtaining paid, premium service on Elon Musk’s X, according to a report by the Tech Transparency Project (TTP), a research initiative of Campaign for Accountability (CfA).

Under federal law, U.S. companies are prohibited from engaging in transactions with individuals or entities under sanctions enforced by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), unless they are licensed or otherwise authorized by the U.S. government. X has explicit policies stating that its premium services—which can be used to generate income for both the company and the user—are off limits to users subject to OFAC sanctions.

Yet in a recent review, TTP researchers found premium blue checkmark X accounts for multiple individuals and groups who have been identified as “terrorists” and others under OFAC-enforced sanctions—a situation that TTP first raised to the company in February 2024. That these issues persist more than a year later raises serious questions about X’s compliance protocols and adherence to sanctions designed to protect U.S. national interests.

Read TTP’s report.

CfA Executive Director Michelle Kuppersmith said, “For over a year, X has been pressed by researchers, media, and members of Congress as to why terrorists and other sanctioned entities are still benefitting from its premium services, and we have yet to hear a satisfying answer. If a small team can use X’s public facing search tools to identify these accounts, it’s unclear why a multi-billion-dollar company cannot do the same.”

TTP’s report identifies premium blue checkmark accounts that appear to belong to individuals associated with the Houthis, Hezbollah, Hamas, as well as sanctioned individuals in Syria, Kuwait, Iraq, and Iran. Many accounts made specific use of X’s Premium features. Some had an “ID verified” badge, suggesting that X confirmed their identity after they submitted a government-issued ID and a selfie to the company, which are requirements for the badge. Several made use of revenue-generating features offered by X, including a button for tips.

Last year, X responded to TTP’s initial investigation by removing the checkmarks from all the accounts listed in the report. Several of the accounts identified in this new report, however, appear to belong to some of those same individuals, who simply re-subscribed to premium service or created new accounts after their old ones were restricted or removed.

X’s ongoing issues with U.S.-sanctioned terrorists on its platform are even more striking in light of comments Musk made in February, criticizing the Treasury for lacking “basic controls” to track payments and ensure they don’t end up going to terrorist organizations and other wrongful recipients. Speaking at a televised Oval Office appearance with Trump, Musk said such controls are “in place at any company.”

“Elon Musk’s company appears to be taking a ‘rules for thee but not for me’ approach to sanctions compliance,” Kuppersmith continued. “It’s one thing to allow terrorists to have a voice on the platform; it’s another entirely to allow them to pay for a more effective megaphone.”

Campaign for Accountability is a nonpartisan, nonprofit watchdog organization that uses research, litigation, and aggressive communications to expose misconduct and malfeasance in public life and hold those who act at the expense of the public good accountable for their actions.