Several members of the US House of Representatives have called on Elon Musk, the new would-be owner of Twitter, to ban US-sanctioned Iranian officials and organizations from the platform.
In a Thursday letter, led by the representative Claudia Tenney (R-NY) and House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik joined by seven of their colleagues, lawmakers urged the world’s richest man and incoming interim CEO of Twitter to ensure it complies with US law, while restoring it as a platform that protects and champions free speech.
“It is unacceptable that US designated foreign entities freely use Twitter, despite laws and regulations that prohibit the provision of goods and services to them,” the letter said.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and others sanctions by the US still use many accounts on Twitter.
They added, “The Iranian Regime uses Twitter to upend free societies and threaten violence, which is exactly why the regime has been designated a State Sponsor of Terrorism and why many of its officials are on the SDN (Specially Designated Nationals) list today".
Tenney and her House colleagues emphasized, “Allowing designated individuals and entities to continue using Twitter to incite violence against American officials and citizens, call for the eradication of the Jewish State (Israel) and its people, and promote its terrorist proxies, in in flagrant violation not only of Twitter's longstanding policies, but most importantly of US law."
