Musk's X erupts over location feature

SAN FRANCISCO

Elon Musk's X erupted in uproar after the rollout of a feature revealing an account's location, exposing what users describe as global troll farms and influence operations on the platform.

X's head of product Nikita Bier launched the feature over the weekend, allowing users "to see the country or region where an account is based," in a bid to boost transparency on a platform that tech experts say is rife with disinformation.

The launch triggered a wave of online sleuthing.

Almost immediately, the platform flooded with posts flagging dozens of right-wing internet personalities — promoters of Trump's "Make America Great Again" (MAGA) or "America First" political slogans — whose location data showed they were in Nigeria, Bangladesh, or Eastern Europe.

Influential pro-Trump accounts that present themselves as U.S.-based but actually operate overseas have circulated 31 false claims over the past 15 months — including allegations of Democratic corruption — according to a NewsGuard analysis using the location feature.

The feature also seemed to vindicate researchers who warned during last year's U.S. presidential election that a network of MAGA accounts — posing as "Trump-supporting independent women" and using stolen photos of European models and influencers — was operating overseas.

"X's new account info showed many of these 'American' women were actually based in Thailand, with some tied to Myanmar," Benjamin Strick, the London-based director of investigations at the Centre for Information Resilience, told AFP.

"We can see that many of the accounts in this specific network are linked to Southeast Asia, which brings us closer to understanding who might be behind them," Strick added.

As tech platforms scale back content moderation and reduce their reliance on human fact-checkers, disinformation researchers warn of a growing threat from Russian and Chinese actors seeking to sow political chaos in Western countries — as well as from overseas influencers driven by the prospect of monetary gain.

Reflecting a hyperpolarized political climate, some right-wing personalities also pointed fingers at left-wing users seemingly posting from suspicious locations.

X cautioned that the location data "may not be accurate and can change periodically."

When users clicked on an account's location, a pop-up noted: "The country or region that an account is based in can be impacted by recent travel or temporary relocation."

Bier said an "upgrade" was upcoming that will ensure "accuracy will be nearly 99.99 percent."