X's new feature raises questions about the foreign origins of some popular US political accounts

"They go by names like @TRUMP_ARMY or @MAGANationX, and their verified accounts proudly display portraits of President Donald Trump, voter rallies and American flags. And they're constantly posting about U.S. politics to their followers, sounding like diehard fans of the president. But after a weekend update to the social media platform X, it's now clear that the owners of these accounts, and many others, are located in regions such as South Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe."

"Online sleuths and experts quickly found that many popular accounts posting in support of the MAGA movement to thousands or hundreds of thousands of followers, are based outside the United States raising concerns about foreign influence on U.S. politics. Researchers at NewsGuard, a firm that tracks online misinformation, identified several popular accounts purportedly run by Americans interested in politics that instead were based in Eastern Europe, Asia or Africa."

"Nikita Bier, X's head of product, announced Saturday that the social media platform is rolling out an About This Account tool, which lets users see the country or region where an account is based. To find an account's location, tap or click the signup date displayed on the profile. This is an important first step to securing the integrity of the global town square. We plan to provide many more ways for users to verify the authenticity of the content they see on X, Bier wrote."

Many popular X accounts using names like @TRUMP_ARMY and @MAGANationX display portraits of President Donald Trump, voter rallies and American flags while regularly posting about U.S. politics. X added an About This Account tool that shows the country or region where an account is based; users can view location by tapping the signup date on profiles. In countries with punitive speech restrictions, accounts can show a broad region rather than a specific country. Researchers at NewsGuard found several seemingly American political accounts that in fact are based in Eastern Europe, Asia or Africa and were spreading misleading and polarizing claims.

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