Elon Musk's social media platform X has found itself at the center of a major controversy following the introduction of a new feature that reveals users' geographical locations. The tool, designed to increase transparency, has unexpectedly exposed numerous political influencers who appear to be operating from unexpected countries including Nigeria.
Transparency Tool Sparks Online Investigation
X's head of product Nikita Bier launched the location feature over the weekend of November 25, 2025, enabling users to see the country or region where an account is based. Bier described this development as "an important first step to securing the integrity of the global town square" in a post on the platform.
The immediate aftermath saw the platform flooded with users conducting their own investigations. Almost instantly, posts began circulating that highlighted dozens of right-wing internet personalities - particularly those promoting former President Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" (MAGA) and "America First" slogans - whose location data indicated they were operating from Nigeria, Bangladesh, and Eastern Europe rather than the United States.
Liberal influencer Ed Krassenstein captured the growing suspicion in a viral post: "Why are so many MAGA influencers from outside the U.S.? It's almost as if they are working for foreign governments."
Nigerian Connection to Political Campaigns
The feature appears to validate concerns raised by researchers during last year's US presidential election. Investigations had previously identified networks of MAGA accounts posing as "Trump-supporting independent women" that used stolen photographs of European models and influencers while actually operating from overseas locations.
Benjamin Strick, the London-based director of investigations at the Centre for Information Resilience, confirmed to AFP that many of these supposedly American accounts were actually based in Southeast Asia, particularly Thailand and Myanmar.
"Before this change we could show these profiles were fake, but we had almost no visibility on where they were run from," Strick explained. "Now we can see that many of the accounts in this specific network are linked to Southeast Asia, which brings us closer to understanding who might be behind them."
The revelation had immediate consequences for some accounts. One X handle posing as a fan account for Ivanka Trump, the former president's daughter, was suspended after users noted its location was listed as Nigeria. The account had accumulated more than one million followers and regularly posted pro-Trump content along with Islamophobic and anti-immigration messages.
Privacy Concerns and Technical Limitations
X has acknowledged some limitations with the new feature, cautioning that location data "may not be accurate and can change periodically." When users click on an account's location, a pop-up notification explains that "The country or region that an account is based can be impacted by recent travel or temporary relocation."
Some users may also be connected via VPN services that can mask their real geographical location, adding another layer of complexity to the accuracy of the data.
Bier acknowledged these initial challenges, noting that "There are a few rough edges that will be resolved by Tuesday." Later on Sunday, he announced an upcoming "upgrade" that would ensure "accuracy will be nearly 99.99%."
The feature has also drawn criticism from users concerned about privacy implications, particularly for dissidents and protesters operating in autocratic states. In response to these concerns, Bier stated that for users in countries "where speech has penalties," the feature includes privacy toggles that reveal only the region rather than specific country information.
The controversy comes as technology platforms increasingly scale back content moderation and reduce reliance on human fact-checkers. Disinformation researchers have warned about growing threats from Russian and Chinese actors seeking to sow political chaos in Western countries, as well as from overseas influencers motivated by potential monetary gains.
Amy Buckman, a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, told AFP that the new feature "shines a light on a fundamental problem with social media today: paid actors are deliberately inflaming difficult issues because controversy attracts attention." She added, "It's a difficult situation, and I believe we need more trustworthy platforms that don't allow people to behave badly."
