X’s new transparency tool reveals many US political influencers are from overseas

November 24, 2025

A new transparency feature on X has revealed that many of the most prominent accounts in the American “Make America great again” (Maga) political movement are operated from outside the United States, including countries such as Nigeria, Russia, and India.

The tool, called “about this account,” was rolled out on Friday and allows users on the Elon Musk-owned social media platform to see an account’s country of location, when it joined, and other metrics.

Upon the feature’s launch, numerous influential accounts that typically post right-wing content, often presenting themselves as patriotic American users, were quickly identified as being based internationally.

The account MAGANationX, which has nearly 400,000 followers and uses the bio, “Patriot Voice for We The People,” was reportedly operating from eastern Europe, according to the Daily Beast. Another popular profile, IvankaNews, a fan account for Ivanka Trump with about one million followers that frequently posts on issues like illegal immigration, was revealed to be based in Nigeria.

The discovery was celebrated by political opponents. Liberal influencer Harry Sisson called it a definitive victory.

“This is easily one of the greatest days on this platform,” Sisson wrote. “Seeing all of these MAGA accounts get exposed as foreign actors trying to destroy the United States is a complete vindication of Democrats, like myself and many on here, who have been warning about this.”

Platform Acknowledges Inaccuracies

 

While the findings are being interpreted as proof of widespread foreign influence or financially motivated content creation, X’s leadership has acknowledged that the location data may not be perfectly accurate for all users. Some analysts suggest the creators may be capitalizing on the intense demand for U.S. political content, as the U.S. dollars paid for engagement can be substantial in some foreign countries.

X’s director of product, Nikita Bier, cautioned that the location feature had initial issues.

Bier noted on X that “data was not 100% for old accounts” and hinted that “a few rough edges … will be resolved by Tuesday.”

The platform maintains that the data is updated periodically based on best available information and that a delay is built in to preserve user privacy.

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Picture of Jim Love

Jim Love

Jim Love's career in technology spans more that four decades. He's been a CIO and headed a world wide Management Consulting practice. As an entrepreneur he built his own tech business. Today he is a podcast host with the popular tech podcasts Hashtag Trending and Cybersecurity Today with over 14 million downloads. As a novelist, his latest book "Elisa: A Tale of Quantum Kisses" is an Audible best seller. In addition, Jim is a songwriter and recording artist with a Juno nomination and a gold album to his credit. His music can be found at music.jimlove.com
Picture of Jim Love

Jim Love

Jim Love's career in technology spans more that four decades. He's been a CIO and headed a world wide Management Consulting practice. As an entrepreneur he built his own tech business. Today he is a podcast host with the popular tech podcasts Hashtag Trending and Cybersecurity Today with over 14 million downloads. As a novelist, his latest book "Elisa: A Tale of Quantum Kisses" is an Audible best seller. In addition, Jim is a songwriter and recording artist with a Juno nomination and a gold album to his credit. His music can be found at music.jimlove.com

Jim Love

Jim is an author and podcast host with over 40 years in technology.

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