X recently began rolling out a new feature that seemingly revealed many right-wing “America First” accounts are actually based outside the United States. However, the data might not be reliable.
While X’s new “About this account” feature includes information about when a user joined and how they downloaded the app, geographic location is getting the most attention by far. After posting a gallery of MAGA accounts that are apparently based in Japan, New Zealand, Pakistan, and Thailand, one left-wing influencer wrote that this development was total armageddon for the online right.
Many of the accounts raising eyebrows, like one apparently based in Pakistan, are relatively small, though others have hundreds of thousands of followers.
X’s director of product said that the feature is being rolled out globally, describing this as an important first step to securing the integrity of the global town square. However, some users have complained that their listed location is wildly inaccurate. The director acknowledged that the data was not one hundred percent accurate for old accounts and suggested that a few rough edges would be resolved soon.
One news outlet noted that while there are definitely rage-bait accounts and troll farms located outside the U.S., many of the listed locations seem highly questionable. The confusion is likely due to factors such as travel, global teams, VPNs, or old IP addresses.