• February: Elon Musk criticized the Treasury Department for lacking "basic controls" to stop payments to terrorist organizations and boasted that any company has such controls.
• May: Musk's social media platform X is suspected of taking payments from sanctioned terrorists and providing premium features that facilitate raising funds and spreading propaganda. Popular accounts seemingly linked to US-sanctioned terrorists have been flagged, including those of Houthi rebels, Hezbollah, Hamas, and groups from Syria, Kuwait, and Iran. Some accounts have a large number of followers while X seems to turn a blind eye.
• Premium features: Premium subscribers pay $8 monthly or $84 annually, and Premium+ subscribers pay $40 monthly or $395 annually. Verified organizations pay X between $200 and $1,000 monthly or up to $10,000 annually for access to Premium+. These subscriptions come with perks that allow suspected terrorist accounts to share more content and accept gifts.
• Chatbot Grok: The TTP found that X's chatbot Grok is helping to whitewash accounts linked to sanctioned terrorists. For example, an account with the handle "hasmokaled" (belonging to Hassan Moukalled) had a blue checkmark and 60,000 followers despite being sanctioned. The Grok AI profile summary relied on Moukalled's own posts and followers' impressions.
• Previous response: Earlier this year, when the TTP flagged other suspected terrorist accounts, X responded within hours claiming to have a "robust and secure approach" to block sanctioned terrorists. But the TTP said providing services for the benefit of blocked persons could be a sanctions violation. X suspended some accounts after the earlier report but the clean-up was short-lived.
• Current situation: X has not yet responded to Ars' request for comment. An X user asked Grok about the TTP's report, and Grok's response indicated ongoing issues and doubts about X's vetting process. The TTP will continue to monitor suspected terrorist activity on X.