But while publicly declaring its support for the protesters, Musk’s company
TTP has reportedly identified more than two dozen These accounts were sharing state-sponsored propaganda at a time when ordinary Iranians did not have access to the Internet, and their messages were artificially boosted to increase reach and engagement, a key aspect of X’s premium service. An
At a time when the Trump administration is threatening Iran with possible military action if it does not meet demands related to nuclear enrichment and ballistic missiles, X is undermining those efforts by providing the Iranian government with a social media bullhorn to spread its message.
“The fact that Elon Musk is not only giving these individuals a platform, but taking their money to promote their content and giving them additional features through these premium subscriptions, also means that he is undermining the sanctions that the US and the Trump administration are actually imposing,” TTP director Katie Paul told WIRED.
X did not respond to a request for comment, but within hours of WIRED flagging several X accounts belonging to Iranian officials, their blue check marks were removed. The remaining accounts identified by TTP but not shared with X will continue to display a blue check mark.
The White House directed WIRED to Treasury when asked for comment. A spokesperson for the Treasury said they do not comment on specific allegations but that it “seems to be.”[s] “The allegations of sanctioned conduct are extremely serious.”
Protests began in Iran’s capital Tehran on December 28 over the continued devaluation of the Iranian rial against the dollar and the country’s widespread economic crisis. In the following days, thousands of protesters took to the streets in cities across the country, demanding regime change and an end to the 37-year rule of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
In response, the regime brutally cracked down on protesters, arresting thousands and killing thousands more. The actual death toll is still unknown but may be much higher than currently reported.
Trump signaled his support for the protesters in a post on Truth Social on January 2 and promised to come to their defense. “We are locked, loaded and ready to go,” he wrote. Musk quickly followed Trump by calling Khamenei “delusional.”
On January 5, the head of Iran’s judiciary, Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ezei, who held the blue check mark at the time, wrote in a post on Twitter, “This time, we will show no mercy to the rioters.” EJE was one of the accounts whose blue check marks were removed on Wednesday after WIRED contacted the company.
A few days later, On January 14, Musk announced that anyone with a Starlink device would be free to use the Internet in Iran without subscription. At the time, Starlink devices were the only viable way to get online after the government imposed an almost complete internet blackout.
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