EXTREMISMX Provides Premium Perks to Hezbollah, Other U.S.-Sanctioned Groups
The U.S. imposes sanctions on individuals, groups, and countries deemed to be a threat to national security. Elon Musk’s X appears to be selling premium service to some of them. An investigation identified more than a dozen X accounts for U.S.-sanctioned entities that had a blue checkmark, which requires the purchase of a premium subscription. Along with the checkmarks, which are intended to confer legitimacy, X promises a variety of perks for premium accounts, including the ability to post longer text and videos and greater visibility for some posts.
A Tech Transparency Project investigation has found that X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, is providing premium, paid services to accounts for two leaders of a U.S.-designated terrorist group and several other organizations sanctioned by the U.S. government.
TTP identified more than a dozen X accounts for U.S.-sanctioned entities that had a blue checkmark, which requires the purchase of a premium subscription. Along with the checkmarks, which are intended to confer legitimacy, X promises a variety of perks for premium accounts, including the ability to post longer text and videos and greater visibility for some posts.
The accounts identified by TTP include two that apparently belong to the top leaders of Lebanon-based Hezbollah and others belonging to Iranian and Russian state-run media. The fact that X requires users to pay a monthly or annual fee for premium service suggests that X is engaging in financial transactions with these accounts, a potential violation of U.S. sanctions.
A blue checkmark account that bears the name and profile image of Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary-general of Hezbollah, also indicates it is “ID verified,” a service that X offers to premium subscribers as a way to prevent impersonation. X requires users to submit a government-issued ID and a selfie to get verified in this way, though it is unclear if Nasrallah did so. X says these accounts get “prioritized support.”
Two other accounts for U.S.-sanctioned entities, Iran’s Press TV and Russia’s Tinkoff Bank, had gold checkmarks. A gold checkmark indicates the account is a “Verified Organization,” and at the time of TTP’s research, cost $1,000 per month. (X has since introduced a Basic tier that costs $200 per month.) Gold checkmark accounts get all the benefits of X’s Premium+ tier plus a $1,000 ad credit per month.
The individuals and organizations associated with these accounts are listed by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) as “Specially Designated Nationals” subject to economic sanctions. TTP identified an additional four blue checkmark accounts linked to the government of Iran, which is under multiple U.S. sanctions.
For years, Twitter, as X was previously known, allowed U.S.-sanctioned individuals and entities to use free accounts on the platform, an arrangement that some legal experts said was permissible under U.S. sanctions law. But by providing a premium, paid service to sanctioned entities, X may be raising new legal issues.