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Elon Musk's X has allegedly given subscription perks to designated terrorist groups as well as others who have been barred from operating in the United States, according to a report published by Tech Transparency Project (TTP). 

In the report, the campaigners claimed that X gave blue check marks to accounts which were related to Hezbollah members, among others.

After the users of X make a payment of $8 (£6.40) per month, they receive a blue tick which allows better promotion and longer posts.

After the report, some of the ticks were removed by X, as the platform claimed that its security was "robust".

The decision taken by Musk to charge for the check marks emerged as one of the most controversial changes after he took over Twitter in 2022 and the critics said that the move will make issues of disinformation worse and the platform will become vulnerable to impersonators.

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Earlier, the badge was free on social media platforms and the accounts holding the blue mark indicated that the identity behind the account has been verified. Many of the recipients of the blue badge were journalists, along with world leaders and celebrities.

In a few cases, those who were given the badge were people facing sanctions, which drew criticism against the company and it was reported that the platform is giving space to the wrong people and breaking sanctions law in the United States.

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X embroiled in legal issues?

The Tech Transparency Project stated that since the system is paid, "X may be raising new legal issues". It added that X had removed the blue ticks from the accounts which were identified as notorious or problematic after the report was published.

The TTP claimed that an account run by Ansar Allah, who is known as a Houthi, also apparently paid for its blue check mark. The account does not have a blue tick anymore and has more than 23,000 followers.

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In both the United States and the United Kingdom, sanctions have been issued against the Houthis. On its website, the United Kingdom government said that it has sanctioned the Houthis "to disrupt their ability to attack international shipping in the Red Sea, and to promote Yemen's peace, stability and security".

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"The US imposes sanctions on individuals, groups, and countries deemed to be a threat to national security. Elon Musk's X appears to be selling premium service to some of them", said the TTP, in its report.

"A blue checkmark account that bears the name and profile image of Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary-general of Hezbollah, also indicates it is 'ID verified', a service that X offers to premium subscribers as a way to prevent impersonation. X requires users to submit a government-issued ID and a selfie to get verified in this way, though it is unclear if Nasrallah did so", it stated.

(With inputs from agencies)