X launched a feature over the weekend that displays users’ locations, renewing scrutiny of the provenance of many accounts, including those posting frequently about US politics.
The new feature displays the country or region an account is based in, as well as when it was created and how many times its username was changed.
It was announced by Nikita Bier, X’s head of product, in a post on the social media site on Saturday.
“This is an important first step to securing the integrity of the global town square,” Mr Bier said, adding that the platform was working on more ways for users to verify the authenticity of content on the platform.
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Users in countries where freedom of speech is limited can choose to show only their region, Mr Bier said, in order to protect themselves from retribution.
He added that location data will be updated “periodically”, on a delayed and randomised schedule to “preserve privacy”.
The new data can be found at the top of an account under the username and profile picture.
Mr Bier said later on Saturday that a few “rough edges” had yet to be resolved and that he hoped information being reviewed would be restored by Tuesday.
After the feature launched, online sleuths quickly used it to determine some accounts that post content supporting US president Donald Trump and the Maga movement are not based in the United States.
One account called “MAGA NATION”, which has nearly 400,000 followers and posts multiple times a day, is based in eastern Europe. Other similar accounts are based in places like Thailand, Nigeria and Bangladesh.
X has long struggled with fake and automated accounts spreading misinformation on the platform. Researchers have found that such bots have posted misinformation related to elections and the coronavirus pandemic, and promoted conspiracy theories. Bots have been used by groups trying to foment discord in past elections in the United States and abroad.
After Elon Musk took over the platform in 2022, the site has experienced a surge in racist and hateful speech.
Even the US Department of Homeland Security weighed in amid speculation about where its X account was created.
“I can’t believe we have to say this, but this account has only ever been run and operated from the United States,” it posted on Sunday. – This article originally appeared in The New York Times
