US EditionX Transparency Tool Exposes Fake Foreign Accounts
- Nov. 23, Elon Musk's X rolled out the About This Profile feature, inadvertently revealing many MAGA accounts are foreign-based.
- The new feature shows account metadata like join date and base, with About This Profile displaying username-change history and declared base location, X head of product Nikita Bier said it helps verify authenticity.
- Users posted screenshots showing specific accounts' locations, including Matt Binder revealing Charlie’s Voice Rising based in Eastern Europe and Defiant Ls in Japan, plus a now-deleted account with more than 50 thousand followers in Kenya.
- Observers note the pattern echoes past findings by the Department of Justice, as accounts lying about location could be tools in foreign influence campaigns or bot farms.
- X's product chief Nikita Bier said Friday, `If any data is incorrect, it will be updated periodically based on best available information` and noted VPN detection can affect location accuracy.
130 Articles
130 Articles
Presented as a transparency tool, the new feature of X, supposed to indicate the country of connection of a user, already raises doubts. The network recognizes several "irregularities".
Has social media's reckoning arrived?
In 2014, Buzzfeed News reported on the Internet Research Agency, a “troll farm” based in Russia that waged an organized propaganda campaign across social media. According to internal emails, operatives were instructed to run multiple Facebook, Twitter and blog accounts, bombard comment sections and build fake audiences to shape American political discourse. It’s a method employed by Russia that dates back to at least the 2008 presidential campai…
Why X’s new location transparency feature has unnerved Trump’s Maga base
X launched a new ‘About This Account’ feature on Friday (November 21) that reveals the location of a user. As internet sleuths began digging into others’ accounts, posts emerged that many Make America Great Again (Maga) accounts on X were actually based out of the US. There were also claims that the US Department of Homeland Security’s account on the platform was based in Israel
This new feature was launched this weekend to combat disinformation on the social platform.
The social network of Elon Musk aspires to greater transparency.
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 45% of the sources lean Left
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
