"The feature, which X head of product Nikita Bier first teased last month, was originally rolled out on Friday night. Hours later, X the feature with Bier claiming there were some changes that needed to be made to address users that utilized VPNs to hide their location. However, by Saturday night, X had once again made the country of origin feature live for each account."
"There are ways to obscure your location in X's settings. Users can choose to only show a general region like North America or Europe instead of the specific nation like the United States or Germany. While this might protect users who are afraid of being doxxed or need to be more private living under an oppressive regime of a more authoritarian country, these settings don't really affect how fake accounts are revealed."
"Another account called "Mariana Times" presented themselves as a U.S. citizen who spoke out about wanting to deport New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani because "we want a nation" and not "foreigner" who has not "assimilated into American culture." While their avatar had an Israeli flag with an AI-looking woman standing in front of it, X's new feature that Mariana is actually posting from India."
X's "About this account" page now displays an "Account based in" label indicating the country or region where each user is posting from. The feature was rolled out, briefly removed for VPN-related adjustments, then reinstated. Users can opt to show a general region such as North America or Europe instead of a specific nation to protect privacy. The location label has exposed accounts whose avatars and rhetoric suggest one nationality but who post from different regions, revealing potential impersonators and accounts coordinating from other countries. The setting does not fully prevent fake accounts but helps identify mismatches.
Read at Mashable
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