TTP Report: X and WhatsApp Host Arms Traders Tied to Houthis
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 16, 2025
Contact: Michelle Kuppersmith, mkuppersmith@campaignforaccountability.org, 202.780.5750
WASHINGTON, D.C. – A new report by The Tech Transparency Project (TTP) details how arms dealers linked to Houthi militants in Yemen are using X and WhatsApp Business accounts as an online storefront for their weapons trade. Some of the weapons are stamped “Property of U.S. Govt,” suggesting they are of American origin and were once used by the U.S. military.
TTP, a research initiative of the Campaign for Accountability (CfA), identified 130 Yemen-based X accounts that offered high-powered rifles, grenade launchers, and other weapons. More than half of the accounts were located in Sanaa, the Houthi-controlled capital of Yemen, and many expressed allegiance to the Houthis or displayed the Houthi emblem in their posts. The Iran-backed Houthis are a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization subject to multiple U.S. sanctions.
“It appears that Elon Musk’s X and Mark Zuckerberg’s WhatsApp are working in contravention to U.S. interests by allowing terrorist-linked arms dealers to sell weapons of war. Time and again we see the platforms putting profit over their own policies, and it’s time for some much-need accountability,” said CfA Executive Director Michelle Kuppersmith.
The most frequently offered U.S. government-branded weapon was the M4 Carbine, a rifle used by the U.S. Army. For example, one account offered a set of four M4 carbines, all of them with grenade launchers attached. Zooming in on the rifles reveals they were stamped with “PROPERTY OF U.S. GOVT.” The accounts did not explain how they acquired these U.S.-branded firearms, but militants around the world have tapped into a thriving black market for weapons left behind by U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
These posts appear to violate multiple X policies. The platform explicitly prohibits weapons sales, stating, “You may not attempt to purchase, smuggle, sell, or facilitate the selling or trafficking of weapons.” It also bars promotion of terrorist organizations as well as “individuals who affiliate with and promote their illicit activities.” But these accounts are conducting their business in the open with no apparent enforcement action from X.
More than half of the Yemen-based X accounts identified by TTP directed potential buyers to business accounts on Meta’s WhatsApp messaging platform. Meta promotes these accounts as a way for businesses to “engage audiences, accelerate sales and drive better customer support outcomes.” The examples identified by TTP appear to violate WhatsApp’s business services policy, which prohibits “buying, selling, promoting, or otherwise facilitating the exchange of” firearms.
“The Big Tech platforms have shown repeatedly that their policies are suggestions, not rules. In this case, they are facilitating the illicit weapons trade in in a war-torn part of the world, and that should make anyone interested in global and U.S. security take notice,” Kuppersmith continued.
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.