Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) expressed her concerns on Wednesday regarding Elon Musk’s social platform, X, suggesting it may be violating sanctions by allowing members of terrorist organizations to acquire “blue checks.”
In her letter addressed to Treasury Director Scott Bescent and National Security Adviser Marco Rubio, Warren referenced a recent report indicating that individuals affiliated with Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, and the Houthis had received checkmarks and the associated perks.
“X’s official policy claims its premium service is not available to those under US sanctions, yet it appears that X has, in practice, enabled payments for terrorists and other sanctioned individuals,” Warren stated.
The Massachusetts Democrat pointed out that X Premium users gain additional benefits beyond the blue check, such as the ability to generate income, including the option to transfer cash or cryptocurrency to authorized individuals.
“In effect, X seems to have transformed into a service that undermines sanctions for those who frequently threaten American safety,” Warren noted in her letter.
“These findings pose serious questions about whether X is violating the law and jeopardizing American lives, as well as whether the Treasury Department is prepared to counteract illegal activities and uphold sanctions,” she added.
Warren has been a staunch critic of the Genius Act, a legislation designed to create a regulatory framework for payment stability.
She believes the law lacks sufficient measures to prevent major tech companies like X from establishing their own stablecoins and asserts there are no constraints to stop figures like President Trump and his family from profiting within the industry.
The bill passed an important early stage on the Senate floor last month and garnered support from over 12 Democrats. However, many lawmakers want to see revisions to the Genius Act before giving their final approval.
Senate Majority Leader John Tune (R-D.) has committed to restoring so-called regular orders, allowing for a public revision process that would enable more changes to the law, although this approach risks slowing momentum.
A significant point of contention involves the credit card competition law included by Senator Roger Marshall (R-Kan) as part of the Genius Act.
This legislation, co-sponsored by Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), mandates that large financial institutions offer alternatives to Visa or MasterCard for processing credit card transactions.
The law faces active opposition from the credit card industry, which argues that it could benefit large retailers at the expense of eliminating popular rewards programs offered by credit card companies.
