X (formerly Twitter) is starting to show the country from which you publish posts. It is a revolutionary change that may limit the activity of bots, troll farms and disinformation networks.
X reveals country – a revolution in the fight against bots
The platform has decided to display the country where posts are published, in order to fight the flood of fake accounts and coordinated disinformation. For users it means greater transparency, and for trolls and “Russian onuce” (paid propagandists) – a serious problem.
How does it work in practice?
- The publishing country is assigned automatically based on account and app settings.
- The country is visible even when a user adds their own location to a post.
- X analyses location anomalies – atypical patterns may indicate bot activity or organised farms.
Consequences for trolls and bots
This solution drastically hinders concealing the origin of accounts spreading disinformation. Automatic blocks and reporting of anomalies are now easier than ever.
An example from other countries
During political crises in Turkey, introducing country visibility made it possible to detect and block fake profiles more quickly. Similar solutions have also worked well in other markets.
What about the privacy of ordinary users?
Privacy vs. security
X assures that precise location data is disclosed only with the user’s consent – by default only the account’s base country is visible. It is a compromise between security and privacy protection.
Can a VPN hide the publishing country?
X is increasingly effective at detecting suspicious location changes made via VPN and may limit reach or block an account for attempting to conceal its true country.
Key changes for X users
- Automatically visible publishing country of each post
- Hindered operation of bot farms and foreign trolls
- Higher effectiveness of moderating inauthentic content
- Privacy of ordinary users still protected
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