Headline Roundup • November 24th, 2025
New X Update Allows Users to See Where Accounts Are Based
Summary from the AllSides News Team
A new update on X allows users to see where other users' accounts are based, raising questions and allegations concerning popular accounts.
Split Framing: The update was implemented on Friday, and as of Sunday night was starting to be covered by mainstream outlets. Media across the spectrum framed the news differently depending on their biases. Outlets on the left, such as NBC News (Lean Left bias) and The Independent (Lean Left), highlighted in headlines that many pro-Trump accounts were shown to be based outside the US. Fox News (Right) highlighted this too, but with a softened framing. The outlet prominently highlighted a "patriot" account, @1776general_, that showed it was based in Turkey, but the owner claimed he was currently there for a work contract. The Jerusalem Post (Center) highlighted "anti-Israel" accounts based around the world.
'Prominent' Accounts: Several outlets from the left, like The Guardian (Left) and The Daily Beast (Left), included screenshots and/or claims from X users that revealed the alleged locations of popular accounts:
- @IvankaNews_, 1M followers, Nigeria
- @MAGANationX, 392K followers, non-EU Eastern Europe
- @_MagaScope, 51K followers, Nigeria
- @DarkMagaCoin, 15K followers, Thailand
Israel Glitch: Several social media users noticed that the official account for the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it was established in Israel in 2008 and is still based there. Shortly thereafter, the account location feature "abruptly disappeared," according to NBC News, before being reinstated. X's product head, Nikita Bier, described the ostensible Israeli location as "fake news" and said, "Location was not available on any gray check account at any point. Furthermore, the DHS has only shown IPs from the United States since account creation." The DHS wrote, "I can't believe we have to say this, but this account has only ever been run and operated from the United States. Screenshots are easy to forge, videos are easy to manipulate." Since the update was shelved and reinstated, the country where the account was first created is no longer shown.
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Jaap Arriens / NurPhoto via Getty Images file
A new transparency feature on X has stirred confusion, anger and a wave of online sleuthing after users discovered that the platform was suddenly displaying the surprising locations where certain accounts are based.
Over the weekend, users noticed that clicking an account's join date now opens a tab that shows the country or region in which the account is located.
A new X/Twitter feature revealing the application store country registry and location of social media accounts has raised concern about foreign influence and the authenticity of users engaged in polarized online debates, including the Arab Israeli conflict and antisemitism.
A new feature on Elon Musk's X is exposing the truth behind social media accounts across the political spectrum, with account owners apparently misleading followers about where they are posting from.
The new feature allows all X users to inspect where a given account is based, usually listing a country or region. Many popular accounts posing as American "patriots" or "constitutionalists" have been exposed as being run from foreign countries since the update rolled out on Friday.
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