--- title: "Elon Musk Is Doing Business With Actual Terrorists, Nonprofit Finds" description: "An investigation found that hundreds of paid subscribers to Elon Musk's X have terrorism links and many use paid X perks to push propaganda." date: "2025-05-18" modified: "2025-05-18" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/elon-musk-twitter-subscription-terrorists" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "elon musk" - "terrorism" - "twitter" --- # Elon Musk Is Doing Business With Actual Terrorists, Nonprofit Finds ![An investigation found that hundreds of paid subscribers to Elon Musk's X have terrorism links and many use paid X perks to push propaganda.]() *\Image: Kevin Lamarque / Pool / Getty / Futurism\* Who's paying for a blue checkmark on X-formerly-Twitter these days? According to a [new report]() by the big tech accountability nonprofit Tech Transparency Project (TTP), the answer is: a bunch of terrorists. The TTP investigation found that more than 200 X users including individuals who appear to be affiliated with Al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, and Syrian and Iraqi militia groups — all deemed foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs) by the US government — are paying for subscriptions to Elon Musk's X. Put simply, Musk is doing business with actual terrorists, highlighting major flaws in his social media company's content moderation practices. These paid subscriptions are granting apparent terrorists blue verification badges, which can offer the accounts an added air of legitimacy. Most importantly, though, the subscriptions are granting the users access to premium X features and perks like content monetization tools, the ability to publish longer posts and videos, and greater platform reach — which the TTP says allows for terrorism-linked users to more effectively distribute and monetize propaganda, as well as promote their fundraising efforts. "They rely on the premium services for the amplification of long propaganda posts and extended videos," TTP director Katie Paul [told ]()*[The New York Times]().* "They are not just subscribing for the blue check notoriety, they are subscribing for the premium services." As the TTP points out, X's terms of use forbid users from paying for premium services if they're affiliated with groups under US economic sanctions, including ones imposed by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control. Neither X nor the Treasury Department responded to a *NYT* request for comment. Though X says it reviews subscribed accounts to ensure they "meet all eligibility criteria" for verification, the feature [has been]() [pretty broken]() since Musk took over the platform and made the feature [pay-to-play](). What's more, [last year](), a similar TTP report found that over two dozen users with apparent terror links were [paying X subscribers with blue badges](). Several of those accounts were banned or stripped of their verification status following the release of the report, but as the *NYT* points out, several have since been able to regain access to premium features. The TTP investigation raises serious questions about X's due diligence around content moderation and platform safety. After all, if X can [suppress users]() that Musk doesn't like, and [speech]() that authoritarian governments [don't like](), can't it keep US-designated terrorists — whether they're the real deal or impersonators — from nabbing blue checks and using X perks to spread and cash in on propaganda? "There is clear evidence of these groups profiting and fundraising through X," Paul told the *NYT*. "They are sanctioned for a reason, and the fact that somebody who has such influence and power in the federal government is at the same time profiting from these designated terrorist groups and individuals is extremely concerning." **More on X dot com:** [*Elon Musk's Unhinged Grok AI Is Rambling About “White Genocide” in Completely Unrelated Tweets*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()