Elon Musk’s platform, X, quietly launched a new transparency tool that instantly changed how users viewed online accounts. This tool showed the country where an account was created and sometimes the region from where it was being operated. Anyone could check this by opening a profile and tapping the “date joined” section, which now revealed a page with details such as account origin, username changes and verification history.
X’s Head of Product, Nikita Bier, explained that this feature was designed to help people understand where accounts came from. It was introduced as an important step toward improving authenticity on the platform. X stated that the purpose was to protect the global town square and help users identify if an account was genuinely local or being operated from elsewhere. Privacy controls were also added for users living in countries where sharing location information could be unsafe.
As soon as the feature appeared, people across the world rushed to check political handles, celebrity accounts and trending profiles. The reaction was immediate and intense. Many users were shocked to find that accounts presenting themselves as local voices were actually operated from countries far away.
During this same period, a viral image began circulating online. The image claimed that the official Department of Homeland Security (DHS) account briefly displayed the label “Account based in: Tel Aviv, Israel.” According to the attached claim, this information was visible for a short period before the feature disappeared. The viral picture spread extremely fast and added more confusion to the already heated discussion, because it appeared at the exact moment when users were discovering surprising origins for many political accounts.
Major political accounts revealed to be foreign-run
Within minutes of the update, several political accounts in the United States were shown to be based in countries outside the US. The discovery shocked users because many of these pages had been posting strongly worded content for years and had built large online communities. Some of them supported the Make America Great Again movement, also known as MAGA, while others attacked Trump supporters. Both sides found themselves facing unexpected revelations.
One account named “MAGA NATION,” which had a following of more than 392,000 people, displayed its origin as Eastern Europe. Another account named “DarkMagaCoin” appeared to be operated from Thailand. A third account called “MAGA Scope” showed a location in Nigeria. An account using the name “America First,” despite presenting itself with patriotic themes, was listed in Bangladesh. Another profile with the username @WilliamAlbrech, which described itself as “ultra MAGA” and “patriot,” also showed a location in Nigeria.
These accounts used American flags, patriotic slogans and pro-MAGA messages, which made users believe they were from inside the United States. The new feature revealed the opposite.
Elon Musk settles with fired Twitter executives over $128 million in severance
However, the discoveries were not limited to pro-MAGA accounts. An account named “Ron Smith,” which described itself as “Proud Democrat” and “Professional MAGA hunter,” and had more than 52,000 followers, showed that it was operating from Kenya. Another very popular account called “Republicans Against Trump,” with over 1 million followers, was revealed to be run from Austria. Later, its displayed location changed to the United States, which led some users to suspect that a VPN might have been involved.
These findings created a major debate online. People began questioning how many political opinions they had seen over the years were actually influenced by accounts that did not come from the country they claimed to represent.
Accounts discussing India also caught in the storm
Along with the political uproar in the United States, users in India discovered that several accounts speaking about Indian issues were also shown with unexpected origins. Many profiles that regularly criticised India were displayed as being operated from Pakistan and Bangladesh. This caused immediate reactions from Indian users who had long suspected foreign involvement in online debates.
Soon after being exposed, some of these accounts changed their displayed region to “South Asia.” The sudden change raised even more suspicion and led many people to believe that these accounts were trying to hide their true origins. Screenshots began spreading across Indian social media as people checked more accounts related to politics, protests and social issues.
Meanwhile, the viral screenshot claiming that the US Department of Homeland Security account was based in Tel Aviv continued to circulate. Even though the layout and design did not match the new X interface, many users shared it because they were already focused on account origins. The timing of the viral image, combined with the release of the new feature, made it widespread within hours.
Strong reactions and rising arguments across the platform
The reaction to the new feature was immediate and extremely intense. Many users accused each other’s political groups of using foreign-run accounts to influence public opinion. Screenshots of surprising account locations were shared nonstop, and users spent hours checking and re-checking the origins of high-profile accounts.
The situation became even more heated after Republican Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna reacted from her personal account, saying that pretend “pro-America” accounts pushing division within MAGA were “literally foreign grifters.” Her statement added more fuel to the already growing arguments.
As more users checked profiles, the platform became filled with discussions about propaganda, misinformation, bots and foreign influence. The combination of real findings from the new transparency tool and unverified viral images created a mix of fact and confusion that spread rapidly across X.