X's New Location Feature Exposes Misleading Politics Accounts Run From Abroad

X's New Location Transparency Feature

• 💡 A new feature on X allows users to see the location and access method of other users, revealing where they are based and how they are using the platform.
• ⚠️ While X has access to extensive user data, the accuracy of this location information can be distorted by VPN usage.

Misleading Political Accounts Revealed

• 🎯 The feature has exposed numerous accounts that pose as users in one country (e.g., US, Scotland) while being run from others (e.g., Kenya, Iran, Nigeria, India, Thailand).
• 💰 These accounts often gain significant engagement and potential monetization by incessantly posting about national politics of the country they are impersonating.
• 🗣️ This includes accounts claiming to have voted in elections or participating in political debates, despite not being citizens or residents of those countries.

Motivations Behind Impersonation

• 📈 US politics is highlighted as a particularly divisive and polarized topic with a large user base on X, making it fertile ground for engagement.
• 💸 The monetary value of engagement can be significantly higher in certain regions, making it profitable for individuals in lower-cost economies to run these accounts.
• 🎭 Concepts like "rage bait" are employed, where content is deliberately designed to provoke disagreement and thus increase shares, likes, and comments, leading to monetization.

Influence and Impact of Exposed Accounts

• 📣 Some of these accounts wield significant influence, with senior politicians following them and their posts being shared by prominent figures, including Donald Trump.
• ⚠️ An account claiming to be a "proud Democrat" and "professional MAGA hunter" was revealed to be based in Kenya and subsequently deleted its profile.
• 🇮🇷 Accounts linked to Scottish independence, previously suspected of being an influence operation from Iran, were found to be accessing X from Iran using VPNs, and also posted positive messages about Iran during the Iran-Israel war.

Changes in User Behavior Post-Disclosure

• 🔄 Following the location reveal, some accounts have updated their profiles to be more transparent about their actual location or identity.
• 🚫 Other accounts, like "Ivanka News," which was based in Nigeria, have been suspended by X after their location was revealed and they claimed to genuinely support the Trump movement.
• 💬 The transparency feature has also empowered other X users to question the motivations of accounts posting about specific national politics, prompting more scrutiny on the platform.