Industry Newsplatform moderationsanctions compliancex premium
X Removes Premium Badge From Sanctioned Leader
5.2
X removed a blue verification badge from the English account of Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, after the checkmark briefly indicated an X Premium subscription. The account, created in March and holding about 175,000 followers, appeared to have used monetization features despite Khamenei being on the US Treasury sanctions list since 2019. The incident raises enforcement and compliance questions for X.
Key Points
- 1Identifies removal of X Premium verification from Mojtaba Khamenei's English account, which had about 175,000 followers.
- 2Highlights potential breach of X policies and US sanctions after a reportedly paid subscription was visible briefly.
- 3Signals inconsistent enforcement risking monetization by sanctioned actors and broader national security and compliance concerns.
Scoring Rationale
Moderate impact due to verified policy breach evidence, limited by focus on one platform and no systemic proof.
Sources
Public references used for this report.
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