X's New Location Tag Unmasks Overseas 'US' Accounts — Sparks Global Sleuthing and Privacy Fears

X, the social platform led by Elon Musk, rolled out a feature that displays the country or region where an account is based — a move its product head says is intended to increase transparency and curb disinformation.

“This is an important first step to securing the integrity of the global town square,”

The feature, introduced by X's head of product, Nikita Bier, prompted immediate and intense online sleuthing. Within hours users were flagging high-profile accounts that present themselves as US-based but appear to operate from countries such as Nigeria, Bangladesh, parts of Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia.

What investigators found

Monitoring groups using the location data reported that a number of influential pro-Trump accounts that had seemed to be US-run actually operated abroad and were linked to several dozen demonstrably false political claims over the past 15 months.

Researchers also said the new tag corroborated earlier warnings about coordinated networks posing as US-based supporters — for example, clusters of accounts posing as "Trump-supporting independent women" that used stolen photos and traced to locations in Thailand and Myanmar.

“Before this change we could show these profiles were fake, but we had almost no visibility on where they were run from,”

— Benjamin Strick, director of investigations at the Centre for Information Resilience

Polarized reaction and warnings

The rollout intensified partisan back-and-forth: while some users celebrated greater transparency, others pointed out left-leaning accounts that showed unexpected locations. X cautioned users that the data "may not be accurate and can change periodically," noting that recent travel, temporary relocation, or use of VPNs can affect the displayed location.

Bier acknowledged teething problems, saying there were "a few rough edges" and promising an upgrade that would boost accuracy dramatically. The company also said privacy controls would limit location detail for users in countries where revealing precise locations could put people at risk.

Account takedowns and moderation questions

Soon after the feature went live, several large accounts that appeared to be impostors were suspended following user reports of suspicious location data. One widely followed fan account that posted pro-Trump and anti-immigration content was removed after its location was identified outside the United States.

Disinformation researchers warn the change exposes a broader challenge: as platforms scale back human moderation and rely more on automated tools, foreign actors and profit-driven influencers may increasingly attempt to manipulate political conversations across borders.

“Paid actors are deliberately inflaming difficult issues because controversy attracts attention,”

— Amy Bruckman, professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology

Reports also indicate that X recently reduced a significant portion of the engineering staff focused on combating influence operations, spam and illegal content — a shift that critics say could undermine the platform's ability to manage deceptive networks even as transparency tools expand.

The company has not provided independent verification of the feature's claimed accuracy improvements. Meanwhile, privacy advocates and activists continue to urge caution: while greater visibility can help expose coordinated disinformation, it can also create risks for vulnerable users in repressive environments if protections are insufficient.