Social media platform X has introduced a feature that displays the country or region of user accounts, aimed at improving authenticity and exposing users hiding their location via VPNs. The feature determines account origin using IP addresses, app store regions, and posting behavior.
Users can choose to show a specific country, a broader region, or hide their location entirely. “For those in countries where speech has penalties, we’ve included privacy toggles to only show your region,” X’s Head of Product Nikita Beir said.
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Account origins are visible by clicking on a profile’s join date. VPN or proxy use may affect accuracy, but the labels make it easier to identify users attempting to obscure their true location.
Beir said some initial inaccuracies will be corrected periodically while preserving privacy. The update gives users a clear tool to assess the authenticity of accounts and detect hidden or misrepresented locations.