https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj38m11218xoDozens 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.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".
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."
I suspect the majority of the millions of followers those accounts have are bots though.Bots following bots, and engaging with more bots.
>>1459903almost all of the accounts are like a year old and nobody important follows them or knows who they are. This whole thing is a nothingburger, all of the actual important rightwing accounts are confirmed to be American.
>>1459907so you're not american or white? we knew that for a long time btw
>>1459907>important rightwing accountsNothing on Twitter is important
>>1459907/g/ has been talking about this for several days now. From what I've seen of the videos they've put together, a large number of the popular blacked and bbc are from Israel, India, and sri lanka or Bangladesh or something
>>1459951>Nothing on Twitter is importantZizek was quoting Curtis Yarvin. You have no idea.
>weFix your bot, Ranjesh.
this isn't news, it just confirms what everyone already knew.When the sharty breached 4chan's database they found that half the /pol/ posters were Israeli or Russian accounts. Again, not news.
>The right wing shills are all Israel and India>The left wing shills are all Israel and India>All of the day and degenerate accounts are Israel and India>All the trad west accounts are Israel and India>All the pro Ukraine accounts are Israel and India>All the pro Russia accounts are Israel and IndiaThe Internet is so lame now
>all the rightards are subhumans that are insecure, especially after what happened in NYC, New Jersey, Virginia & California, otherwise they would be so secure in their faith in their orange god they wouldn't need to be in /news/>those who aren't rightards are enjoying the schadenfreudeThe Internet is so fun now
>>1459974This poster is located in India (Canada)
>>1459979Insecure rightard hands typed this
>>1459981Don't forget it was also posted from India.It slightly makes me want flags for this board.
>>1459953That's interesting and hilarious but those aren't rightwing accounts though. The rightwing accounts they found are Literal Who accounts that have a bunch of bot followers but nobody ever heard of these accounts before.>>1459947bad bot
>>1459979why did you reply to such a blatant troll? Stop feeding the trolls
>>1459979Fix your bot, Ranjesh. It's larping as an American.
>>1459987Why are you so insecure?Nerve status: Touched.
>>1459951that must be why elon bought it, you coping retard
>>1459998Elon is so dumb he follows people like Ian Miles Cheong and Rupert Lowe.https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-community-notes-issues-x-twitter-disinformation-fact-checking-2023-12https://www.lemonde.fr/en/pixels/article/2022/11/28/on-twitter-elon-musk-finds-comfort-in-his-right-wing-filter-bubble_6005914_13.htmlhttps://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/05/15/business/elon-musk-x-twitter-feed-following-followers.html
