Explained | X’s new location feature and the political row it triggered in India

The feature, aimed at promoting authenticity and transparency, has caused political controversy in many countries, including India

The social media site X (formerly Twitter) launched a new feature over the last weekend that displays the user’s location, renewing scrutiny of the place of origin of many accounts.

The feature, aimed at promoting authenticity and transparency, soon caused political controversy in many countries, including India.

The ruling BJP in India claimed that many politically active accounts, particularly those critical of the Indian government and posting on sensitive domestic issues like caste or communal tensions, were operating from outside India, primarily from Pakistan and Bangladesh. It accused the Opposition Congress of using such overseas-based social-media accounts to influence political discourse in India.

The Congress, too, alleged that many BJP-linked accounts were being shown as being operated from foreign locations. While dismissing the ruling party's claim, the Congress said the BJP was trying to discredit legitimate questions being raised on social media on many burning issues.

The location feature explained:

The feature, part of X's effort to increase transparency and combat misinformation and bot accounts, shows the following details when a user taps on an account's join date:

• The country or region where the account is based.

• How often the username has been changed.

• From which country's app store the X app was first connected.

X infers the location based on aggregated IP addresses and app store registry. The company has noted the data may not be accurate, particularly if users have traveled recently or used a Virtual Private Network (VPN).

Users also have the option to display only a broader regional label — region or continent — (eg, 'South Asia') instead of a specific country.

While announcing the launch of the ‘About this Account’ feature, Nikita Bier, X’s head of product, had said users in countries where freedom of speech is limited can choose to show only their region in order to protect themselves from retribution. He added that location data would be updated “periodically”, on a “delayed and randomised schedule to preserve privacy”.

The effect

After the feature was launched, online sleuths quickly used it to determine that some accounts that post content supporting United States President Donald Trump and the MAGA movement are not based in the US.

In India, the BJP alleged that social media accounts based in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Singapore and other countries are building an anti-India narrative at the behest of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and the Left ecosystem, claiming that even the X account of the Congress head of media department, Pawan Khera, is based in the US.

At a press conference, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra displayed various X accounts that he alleged were created from abroad, demonstrating social media campaigns against the Election Commission, the BJP-RSS, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on various issues, including the Congress' allegations of 'vote chori' (vote theft).

Countering the BJP, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate alleged that several BJP-linked accounts are being operated from foreign locations and asked whether they were all indulging in "anti-India narrative". She alleged that the Gujarat BJP's X handle was based in Ireland, Startup India's from Ireland, Sri Sri Ravishankar’s account from North America, DD News from the United States and the Adani Group accounts are being operated from Germany.

"Are they all 'anti-India' accounts or indulging in 'anti-India' activities?" she asked.

She also pointed out that X has said that the account location can change due to travel or some technical issues like use of VPN, and this data may not be 'accurate'.

Some accounts change visible location

The feature led to a wave of online sleuthing and confusion. Some accounts changed their visible location to the broader "South Asia" region to obscure their national origin, which some argued it was a move to hide their identities.