X Social Network Introduces Transparency Feature

The X social network, owned by Elon Musk, has launched a new transparency feature that shows the country or region of a user's account. This information can be found in the «About This Account» tab, which also indicates the account's creation date and name change history. This was reported by The New York Times.
According to X's product head Nikita Bir, this is «the first step towards ensuring the integrity of the global public space». The company has announced plans to roll out more tools for content authenticity verification.
The launch of this feature has provoked mixed reactions. Users noticed that several accounts that frequently comment on political issues in the U.S. are registered in other countries, including Japan, New Zealand, Pakistan, and Thailand. This raised suspicions about the origin and true ownership of these profiles.

Criticism and Risks

Critics argue that the new feature could pose risks to security and privacy. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin warned that the system is easily manipulable: accounts can spoof their location, presenting themselves as users from the U.S. or the UK. This, he believes, opens doors for foreign trolls and political campaigns.
Some members of the crypto community have labeled the change as «psychotic», as it may endanger real users by exposing their location without adequate protection.

Political Context

This feature has already become a topic of discussion in the U.S., where users have started to verify the origins of accounts spreading political messages. Specifically, it was found that some accounts affiliated with the MAGA brand (Make America Great Again) are based outside the country. This has raised new questions about foreign influence on American political discourse.
Additionally, a U.S. lawsuit revealed internal documents where social media employees compared their platforms to drugs.