X transparency feature exposes misleading locations
25 minutes agoShayan Sardarizadeh, Thomas Copeland and Tom EdgingtonBBC Verify
BBCDozens of high-engagement accounts on X have been accused of misleading users following the roll-out of a new transparency feature that shows user locations.
Users on the social network seized on examples of pro-Trump accounts that posted about US politics, but which turned out to be based outside the US. There were also anti-Trump accounts with misleading locations too.
Posts from some of the accounts have attracted millions of impressions – views, likes, reposts and replies – which can result in payment from X.
BBC Verify is not able to independently confirm the information X provides about each account.
X says data is ‘99% accurate’
The location data is visible in a new “about this account” tab which appears on every profile.
It also contains a warning that the location data may be affected by recent travel, temporary relocation and the use of virtual private networks (VPNs).
However, according to X’s head of product, Nikita Bier, the information is 99% accurate.
On Saturday, Trump shared on Truth Social a screenshot of a post from an X account called “TRUMP_ARMY_” celebrating a Supreme Court ruling it says will allow the president to deport criminals to El Salvador.
This account has gathered more than half a million followers, including a senior Republican senator.
But X’s data has revealed the account is based in India and the username changed four times since March 2022.
The account profile has now been changed to “an Indian who loves America, President Trump, Musk!”
Another, account called “IvankaNews_”, which describes itself as a fan account for Trump’s daughter, has gathered more than one million followers and has previously posted about voting for the president last year.
However, the account is based in Nigeria and its username has changed 11 times since 2010, according to X.
After its location was revealed, the account posted that “some of us living outside the USA genuinely support President Trump’s movement”.
X now appears to have suspended “IvankaNews_”, but the reason is unclear.
A ‘proud Democrat’ in Kenya
BBC Verify has also found examples of accounts sharing anti-Trump posts, which are actually based outside the US according to X’s new feature.
One account, with 52,000 followers, claimed to be a “proud Democrat” and “professional Maga hunter”.
The user appears to have deleted their profile after it was revealed that they were based in Kenya.
Scottish politics affected too
BBC Verify has also seen a number of accounts claiming to be from Scotland and almost exclusively posting in favour of Scottish independence.
According to X’s data, however, these accounts are accessing X from Iran. All of these accounts had very small followings.
BBC Verify has attempted to contact these accounts but has not received any response.
‘Make a buck by pretending’
Most of these accounts have held blue ticks. This means they subscribe to X’s Premium feature and could potentially earn money from their posts depending on their engagement rates.
X users need to satisfy several criteria to gain access to its monetisation programme, including passing identity checks and having more than 5 million impressions within three months.
Alexios Mantzarlis from Cornell Tech says blue tick accounts are exacerbating problems on the platform.
“The blue ticks on these accounts tell us one thing we already knew: X’s pay-for-play badging is just a revenue generator and not a serious verification effort.”
However, he adds that other features, like “community notes” that allow contributors to append context to a viral post, shows the platform is taking transparency seriously.
Researchers say there are often mixed motivations why an account may not be transparent about its location.
Darren Linvill from Clemson University’s Media Forensics Hub is an expert is misinformation
“There are accounts that are run by troll farms, that are run by nation states, and then there are accounts that are just trying to make a buck by pretending to be American.”
Mantzarlis agrees that money is often a factor.
“There is always some money to be made from fanning America’s culture wars on social media.
“That said, organized state actors and political parties have been shown to leverage sockpuppet accounts over and over again, so it’s probably a bit of both.”
But despite X’s new feature, Prof Linvill believes some users will find a workaround.
“Bad actors will very likely quickly adapt… they can round it by VPN, they’ll adapt the way they’re creating their account so it appears they created their account in the west or in the United States”.
Additional reporting by Benedict Garman
