X’s new location feature fuels debate after MAGA accounts turn up abroad

X, formerly known as Twitter, rolled out a new transparency feature over the weekend that lets users see which country an account is operated from. Within hours, the platform erupted in controversy after screenshots showed several high-engagement, MAGA-branded accounts appeared to be based outside the United States.

Under the feature, users can open a profile and see the country it’s operated out of. That’s all it took for X to be flooded with images exposing some prominent right-wing political pages as foreign-run.

Foreign-operated MAGA pages go viral

One account called “ULTRAMAGA TRUMP2028” claimed to be based in Washington, D.C.. However, the feature listed it as operating from Africa. Another viral screenshot showed a now-deleted account – “Trump Is My President” – appearing to operate from Macedonia. 

Most of the flagged accounts have since been deleted, but screenshots continue circulating widely. Right-wing personalities then jumped in, posting screenshots that showed some left-leaning accounts also tied to foreign locations.

DHS dragged into the controversy

The new feature drew further attention when a post went viral claiming the Department of Homeland Security account was being run out of Israel. That forced DHS to issue a rare public correction:

“I can’t believe we have to say this, but this account has only ever been run and operated from the United States,” the department wrote on X. Screenshots are easy to forge, videos are easy to manipulate. Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

Shortly after the uproar, the location feature briefly disappeared from X before returning on Saturday. 

X responds – blames bad data

X’s head of product, Nikita Bier, called the DHS claim “fake news,” saying, “Location was not available on any gray check account at any point. Furthermore, the DHS has only shown IPs from the United States since account creation.”

She followed up with a second post, urging the user to “stop spreading misinformation.” 

She also addressed why the feature briefly went offline, saying “the account creation country was incorrect on a very small subset of old accounts, due to IP ranges changing over time.”

As of Monday, Straight Arrow News confirmed that DHS’s account is listed as U.S.-operated.

The post X’s new location feature fuels debate after MAGA accounts turn up abroad appeared first on Straight Arrow News.

Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief

Ella Greene

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