Elon Musk's X Accused of Taking Payments from Hezbollah Members

Elon Musk's X (formerly Twitter) is currently being accused of taking payments from supposed Hezbollah members despite the US sanctions on the Islamic militant group.

Digital watchdog group Tech Transparency Project reported that the platform is providing paid services, including blue checkmarks, to accounts with two top leaders of Lebanon-based Hezbollah.

Subscribing to X's premium services includes giving "prioritized support" to these accounts in terms of engagement and visibility.

According to TTP, X's transactions with the group could potentially lead to a US trade sanction violation.

The US government designated Hezbollah as a foreign terrorist organization in 2005 with countries accused of financing the group, like Lebanon, receiving terrorism sanctions.

It can be remembered that Binance and its former CEO have to pay billions of settlement money after admitting guilty of trading with Iran, another nation under US sanctions.

US Gov't Cracks Down on Islamic Militant Accounts on Social Media

The TTP's report follows a week after Meta removed the account of Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, on Facebook and Instagram.

The social media giant cited repeated violations of its Dangerous Organizations and Individuals policy as the reason for the removal.

The Iranian government and Hezbollah have been among the US's loudest critics in the Middle East over its interventions in Muslim-led rebellions in the region.

Both entities have earlier expressed support of Hamas following the Oct. 7 conflict, a decision the US has blasted over after it provided support to Israel.

Since then, several lawmakers have been pushing de-platform accounts associated with the militant groups as "redoubling its support for the free flow of information."

Verified Hezbollah Accounts Further Threaten X's Profit

While there is no significant impact on X yet, the TTP forecasted that it may put a further risk on X's profit since Musk acquired it.

It can be remembered that multiple brands stopped running advertisements on X after anti-Semitic and pro-Nazi posts appeared next to ads.

As of writing, many of these advertisers have yet to resume their social media marketing on X. The platform has since reported huge drops in its ad revenues throughout 2023.

In turn, Musk vowed to file a "thermonuclear lawsuit" against the digital watch group that first reported of ads appearing next to what is considered hate speeches.