A new transparency feature on X has exposed dozens of highly followed political accounts as inauthentic, revealing they are run from outside the United States while posing as domestic American voices to influence political discourse.
The “About This Account” feature, which displays a user’s original location and username history, has uncovered a pattern of deception. Key examples include:
- “TRUMP_ARMY_”:Â An account with over 500,000 followers, celebrated by Donald Trump himself, was revealed to be based in India. Its username had changed four times since 2022.
- “IvankaNews_”:Â A pro-Trump account with one million followers was found to be operating from Nigeria, with a history of 11 username changes.
These accounts, which amassed millions of impressions and qualified for X’s creator payout program, presented themselves as authentic American political voices. The revelation raises significant questions about the scale of foreign influence campaigns and inauthentic activity on the platform.
While X’s head of product claims the location data is 99% accurate, the feature includes a disclaimer that it can be affected by VPNs. Despite this, the sheer volume of high-profile accounts being outed as foreign-operated suggests a systematic effort to manipulate US political conversations, with followers that include senior political figures.
By James Kisoo
