X’s New Location Transparency Feature Raises Concerns

X has begun with a limited rollout of a new “About this account” feature on November 21, 22, that displays the country from which an account is operated and the “join date” as a part of Authenticity. 

The rollout occurred swiftly and inconsistently—evident in screenshots from late November 21, 22, but then mostly retracted or concealed within hours for numerous users, leading to claims that the feature had “disappeared” soon after its launch.

The tool has already sparked controversy after revealing unexpected locations for several political influencers worldwide.

X’s New Feature Faces Technical Issues

The feature was first announced by X's head of product, Nikita Bier, on October 14. The post stated that the social network will start experimenting with showing more information on user profiles, such as the account's creation date, location, number of username changes, and usage of X's service.

The feature appeared under the "Joined" date on profiles, displaying details such as "Based in: United States" for some users. Screenshots circulating on X show the change occurring around 11 p.m. ET on November 21, 2025, before disappearing early Friday morning. According to Mashable.

At the beginning, the feature was not available to all accounts, and it allowed users to adjust their countries and locations in case they were not accurate. 

Verifying Authenticity and Spotting Fake Accounts

Elon Musk, a tech billionaire, pledged to address the problem of "bots" on Twitter when he took over the company in 2022. Early on in his tenure, he carried out multiple purges that eliminated numerous accounts.

However, the study "X under Musk's leadership: Substantial hate and no reduction in inauthentic activity" found that suspected inauthentic activity on the platform has remained at high levels since Musk purchased Twitter.

The feature is meant to expose more information to the audience to figure out if the account is an authentic user, a troll, or a bot. 

By providing geographical context to accounts, X product leads presented the change as a transparency tool meant to assist users in identifying coordinated inauthentic behavior, foreign influence operations, impersonation, and engagement farming.

Questions Over X’s Transparency as DHS Denies Israel-Based Login Claims

During the initial rollout, screenshots and videos circulated claiming that the American Department of Homeland Security (DHS) account briefly appeared as being operated from Israel. Minutes later, the feature disappeared from the account, and X announced that government accounts are now exempt from location disclosure.

Meanwhile, X’s Head of Product, Nikita Bier, denied the reports entirely, stating that the feature was never enabled for gray-check accounts and that DHS has only ever shown U.S.-based IPs.

DHS first responded with a meme-like picture of Trump looking shocked, which did not confirm or refute the discussion regarding the location of its account. 

On Sunday, the DHS issued an official denial stating that the account has always been managed and operated by the United States. Screenshots and videos are both easy to forge and manipulate.

Nikita Bier responded to a user's question, "Why was the feature shut off immediately after launch?" by saying that it was shut off because the account creation country was incorrect on a very small subset of old accounts, due to IP ranges changing over time.
"Stop spreading misinformation," he continued. 

This incident raises questions about the accuracy, consistency, and transparency of the new feature.

X’s Location Feature and Accuracy Complaints

Some users complained that their "About this account" section contained inaccurate information. For some users, the feature temporarily vanished due to complaints.

Despite residing in Canada, a user named "Canadian Beaver" claimed that their country of origin was mistakenly displayed as the United States. "Fixing this now," Bier retorted. It appears that Starlink confused us.

Also, if the user clicks on the country or region, a note will appear stating that the location may be incorrect because the account is connected via a proxy—such as a VPN—which may change the country or region displayed on their profile. Some internet providers may use proxies automatically without the user's intervention.

X Update Reveals Surprising Locations About MAGA 

X was inundated with viral posts as soon as the feature went live, revealing that many high-engagement, MAGA-branded accounts that pose as patriotic Americans are actually located abroad in Bangladesh, Thailand, Nigeria, and Eastern Europe.

"Make America Great Again" is an American political slogan most recently popularized by Donald Trump during his presidential campaigns in 2016, 2020, and 2024.

The account "ULTRAMAGA 🇺🇸 TRUMP🇺🇸2028," which claims to be based in Washington, D.C., is listed as based in Africa. 

Another now-deleted account with the President Donald Trump-inspired username "Trump Is My President" was listed as being based in Macedonia.

According to NBC, an account with the username @American, complete with a profile picture featuring a bald eagle over an American flag, appears to be based in South Asia.

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