X-rated feature reveals fake political accounts run from foreign countries

A new feature on Elon Musk’s X reveals the truth behind social media accounts across the political spectrum, with account owners apparently misleading their followers about where they are posting from.

The new feature allows all X users to check where a given account is based, typically listing a country or region. Many popular accounts posing as American “patriots” or “constitutionalists” have been revealed to be run from foreign countries since the update released Friday.

An account with the handle “@1776General_” has more than 140,000 followers and has a user bio describing the owner as a “constitutionalist, patriotic, and ethnically American.” The bio claims the account is based in the United States, but X’s new feature reveals it’s actually based in Türkiye.

“I work in international business. I am currently working in Türkiye on a contract,” the account owner said after the new feature was released.

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The account of “1776General_” who appears to be posing as an American. (Screenshot/X)

Another account, “@AmericanVoice__,” had more than 200,000 followers before the update rolled out. The new feature revealed that it was run from South Asia and the owners simply deleted the account.

X product manager Nikita Bier says the new feature should help X users eliminate misinformation from their feeds.

“When you read content on

Nikita Bier attends TechCruch Disrupt SF 2013 at the San Francisco Design Center in San Francisco, California. (Steve Jennings/Getty Images for TechCrunch)

The phenomenon is not limited to American politics, however. Many accounts claiming to have reported on alleged Israeli war crimes in Gaza also appear to be misleading users.

One user, Motasm A Dalloul, uses the handle “@AbujomaaGaza” and claims to be a “Gaza-based journalist.” His account has over 197,000 followers, but X says the owner is actually posting from Poland.

Dalloul, however, pushed back against claims he was lying to his supporters, releasing a video on Saturday that appeared to show him on the ground in Gaza. Many users wondered if the video had been digitally altered.

Screenshots showing the discrepancy between Motasem A. Dalloul’s account on X. (TPS-IL) (TPS-IL)

Another Palestinian-related account, Quds News Network or @QudsNen, describes itself as the “largest independent news network for Palestinian youth” and has more than 600,000 subscribers.

The account lists its location as “Palestine,” but X claims that the account is actually based outside of Egypt – unlike other accounts that

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A similar account under the name Times of Gaza/@Timesofgaza has almost a million followers. It claims to provide “the latest news and current affairs from occupied Palestine.” The account is based in “East Asia and Pacific,” according to X.

X representatives said its new feature could be partially spoofed by using a VPN to hide a user’s true location. In cases where a VPN was detected, X added a warning next to the listed location.