With this feature, users can now see more information about other people’s accounts, such as how many times they have changed their username, when they joined the platform, and where exactly they are located.
The last of those features has caused quite a stir. Users increasingly discovered that many ostensibly America-loving MAGA influencer accounts were not actually based anywhere in the United States.
Take, for example, @MAGANAtionX, an account with nearly 400,000 followers. That account claims to be “America First Patriot Voice” but the new feature reveals it’s actually based in Eastern Europe. Another account, called @1776general_, which claims to be “ethnically American” in its bio, is actually based in Turkey.
The list goes on and on. Another account with the username “America First” is actually based in Bangladesh. An account that posted claims Trump was giving “exactly” what he voted for and claimed to be based in Virginia was actually another Eastern European account, it has been revealed. Many of the Trump family’s fan accounts were also based overseas, ranging from an Eastern European Barron Trump fan to a Nigerian account dedicated to Ivanka Trump and a Macedonian account for Kai Trump news.
It’s not just MAGA accounts. The now-deleted account with over 50 thousand followers, which claimed to be a “proud Democrat” and “professional MAGA hunter” in its bio, was actually based in Kenya.
According to Nikita Bear, X’s head of product, the new feature aims to help users “verify the authenticity of the content they view on
Accounts may also use a VPN. But thanks to its help, a reverse engineer has claimed that X can detect VPN connections and label that account’s location information as “Country or region may not be accurate.” Some accounts on X show this labeling.
However, mostly this feature can help users understand which accounts may have hidden agendas.
For example, multiple accounts with similar content lying about their location and seemingly located in the same area may indicate that they are all part of a bot farm.
Accounts that are lying about their location may also be tools used in foreign influence campaigns. Either by involving AI-enhanced bot farm operations or by paying individual users, foreign entities may seek to sway public opinion or cause political polarization by promoting false narratives and disinformation. Russia, China, Iran, Israel, and the United States itself have been accused of conducting foreign influence campaigns on social media. Russia was implicated in a pro-Trump foreign influence campaign ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
<a href