X has again been accepting payments from people associated with terrorist groups and other entities subject to U.S. sanctions, according to a new report by the Tech Transparency Project (TTP). According to the report, X not only accepted payments in exchange for its premium services, but in some cases provided an “ID verified” badge.
The report once again calls into question X’s compliance with U.S. sanctions, which restrict companies’ ability to do business with individuals and entities deemed to be a security threat. Last year, TTP published a similar report that identified more than two dozen verified accounts linked to sanctioned groups, including Hezbollah leaders and accounts associated with the Houthis in Yemen. Many of these accounts have since been revoked, and X has promised to “maintain a safe, secure, and compliant platform.”
But some of these accounts simply “re-subscribed” to X’s premium service or created new accounts, according to the report, which is based on research conducted between November 2024 and April 2025. “TTP’s new investigation found a number of blue-ticked accounts for individuals and entities under US sanctions, including several that appear to have simply re-subscribed to the premium service or created new accounts after their old accounts were restricted or deleted by X,” the report says. “Furthermore, some of the accounts were ‘verified,’ meaning that X conducted additional verification to confirm their identity.”
The report again emphasizes the verified accounts linked to Hezbollah members, including one of its founders, as well as Houthi officials who “heavily use X for messaging and propaganda.” The son of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, whose account was previously blocked, also has a blue check, as does Ragad Saddam Hussein al-Tikriti, one of Saddam Hussein’s daughters. Both have been under sanctions for more than a decade.
X did not respond to a request for comment on the report. In response to last year’s report, the company stated that it would “take action as necessary.” However, it is unclear whether the company has changed any of its practices regarding who can pay for premium subscriptions.
“If a small team can use public search tools like X to identify these accounts, it’s not clear why a multi-billion dollar company can’t do the same,” said Michelle Coopersmith, executive director of the Campaign for Accountability, the watchdog group that monitors TTP. “It’s one thing to allow terrorists to have a voice on the platform; it’s quite another to allow them to pay for a more effective megaphone.”
