Elon Musks X rolls out feature that shows users country of origin – then suddenly removes it
Late Friday night, a new feature was rolled out on Elon Musk’s social media platform, X (formerly Twitter), that generated considerable buzz among users. The feature allowed visitors to any user’s profile to click on their join date and access an “About this account” page, which disclosed the country from which the user was posting, based on their IP address rather than self-reported location details. This innovative addition aimed to enhance transparency on the platform, particularly in light of growing concerns about misinformation and foreign influence in political discussions.
However, the excitement was short-lived as the country of origin disclosure was swiftly removed just hours after its introduction. The decision to retract the feature seems to have stemmed from reports of inaccuracies, as users began to notice discrepancies in their displayed locations. For instance, one user, known as “Canadian Beaver,” reported that their account indicated a U.S. origin despite them residing in Canada. Nikita Bier, X’s head of product, acknowledged these issues and noted that some inaccuracies were linked to users employing VPNs to access the platform. Bier indicated that a solution was in the works, promising to add indicators for users affected by VPN-related discrepancies.
The initial reception of the country of origin feature was largely positive, with many users believing it could help mitigate the spread of misinformation by making it harder for foreign actors to manipulate political narratives on the platform. Similar transparency measures have been adopted by other social media platforms, such as Facebook, which provides information about the country of origin for page administrators. As X navigates the challenges of implementing this feature effectively, users are hopeful that it will be reinstated soon, potentially with enhancements to address the accuracy issues that led to its removal. The situation underscores the ongoing struggle for social media platforms to balance user privacy with the need for transparency in an increasingly complex digital landscape.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54ZOxgFJaP0
If you were perusing Elon Musk’s X late Friday night, you might have seen a brand new, highly anticipated feature roll out.
X visitors were able to go to any users’ profile page, click on their join date to view a new “About this account” page which revealed exactly which nation an account was based. This information differed from the usual “Location” detail on an X profile page, as it showed exactly where an account was posting from based on their IP address, not what the user input themselves.
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The country of origin disclosure was broadly lauded among X’s user base. Then, suddenly, without notice, the country of origin was removed from the “About this account” page just hours after it made its late-night debut.
Mashable
reported
last month that the feature was on the way. X’s head of product, Nikita Bier, originally teased the feature, rolling it out on his own account as a demo of how it would work before it was visible on any other X users’ accounts.
It’s unclear exactly why X quickly removed the feature shortly after rolling it out to the public. However, Bier replied to some X users who were reporting that their “About this account” was showing inaccurate information, which may be the reason why the feature was taken down.
One X user named “Canadian Beaver” shared that their country of origin was appearing as the United States despite residing in Canada.
“Fixing this now,” Bier
replied
. “Looks like Starlink threw us off.”
Along with the current country of origin, the “About this page” also displayed where a user resided when first creating the account. One X user reported that their join date location was inaccurately displayed as Korea.
“We identified the problem: it looks like you used a VPN to register your account in ’22,” Bier said to that user. “We are adding a indicator on that row on Monday for Android and iOS—and it will be live on web tomorrow.”
Based on Bier’s responses, it seems X may have removed the feature to fix location inaccuracies caused by VPNs, and the intention is to re-roll out the feature in the coming days.
X users mostly welcomed the country of origin feature, as many feel it would discourage foreign actors from spreading misinformation and propaganda related to political discussions on the platform. Facebook has a similar feature for Facebook Pages, where users can view the country of origin for the administrators of the page, although Facebook does not reveal the profiles behind the pages.
We’ll soon find out if Musk’s social media platform reinstates the feature.
