A new feature on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter allows users to see the location of other accounts. It has resulted in a firestorm of recriminations
W
hen X rolled out a new feature revealing the locations of popular accounts, the company was acting to boost transparency and clamp down on disinformation. The result, however, has been a circular firing squad of recriminations, as users turn on each other enraged by the revelation that dozens of popular “America first” and pro-Trump accounts originated overseas.
The new feature was enabled over the weekend by X’s head of product, Nikita Bier, who called it the first step in “securing the integrity of the global town square.” Since then many high-engagement accounts that post incessantly about US politics have been “unmasked” by fellow users.
An Ivanka Trump fan account that posts about illegal immigration to the US was shown to be based in Nigeria. MAGAStorm, spreading conspiracy theories about the assassination attempt on Trump, was found to be in eastern Europe. AmericanVoice which posts anti-Islam content, is based in India.
