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Well if trump can grift on the twitter deal-yea it's cool
Twitter does something right: exposes locations of accounts
- Thread starter altmin
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- Politics
They may do it going forward....
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Ddseddse
Iconic Member
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Garden variety VPN will do it. Only thing this change affects is the economics of running a troll farm. You want access to a vpn with settings a third party country, you’ll have to pay.
Mulberry Heel
Inconceivable Member
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Which is precisely why I doubt this feature will last very long, as others have already said.
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X's new location transparency feature unleashes questions about origins of MAGA accounts
The function, which shows that a slew of MAGA-branded accounts are apparently based outside the U.S., also stirred speculative outrage over where the Department of Homeland Security account was created.
X's new location transparency feature unleashes questions about origins of MAGA accounts
The function, which shows that a slew of MAGA-branded accounts are apparently based outside the U.S., also stirred speculative outrage over where the Department of Homeland Security account was created.
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“… Some users pushed back against the locations listed on their account. Three accounts belonging to NBC News journalists showed locations that did not correlate to where they are based but to where they had traveled to recently instead.X's new location transparency feature unleashes questions about origins of MAGA accounts
The function, which shows that a slew of MAGA-branded accounts are apparently based outside the U.S., also stirred speculative outrage over where the Department of Homeland Security account was created.
X's new location transparency feature unleashes questions about origins of MAGA accounts
The function, which shows that a slew of MAGA-branded accounts are apparently based outside the U.S., also stirred speculative outrage over where the Department of Homeland Security account was created.www.nbcnews.com
X also placed a warning that popped up when a user's location is clicked on: "The country or region that an account is based can be impacted by recent travel or temporary relocation. This data may not be accurate and can change periodically."
While it's not clear exactly how X was determining users' locations, Bier posted Sunday night that the system was still evolving. In response to a post asking if the company had taken a shortcut and questioning its accuracy, Bier wrote that an upgrade would happen the next day.…”
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From NBC link above:
“… But the posts that stirred the biggest frenzy came Friday morning, when screenshots and screen recordings claiming that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security account was listed as being based in Israel quickly went viral. The department and Bier have both denied the speculation, claiming the posts are spreading misinformation.
… DHS initially responded with a meme-like image of Trump, looking stunned, which neither confirmed nor denied the discourse about its account location.
…
On Sunday, it followed up with an official denial.
“I can’t believe we have to say this, but this account has only ever been run and operated from the United States,” DHS posted. “Screenshots are easy to forge, videos are easy to manipulate. Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
Reached for comment, a spokesperson for DHS pointed NBC News to the same social media statement.…”
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New X feature exposes foreign pro-MAGA accounts
“… Many of these accounts share similar features: generic pro-America imagery and photos of Trump, his family or members of his administration. The posts are about news of the day, recycled clips from other media outlets and questions or polls to encourage responses — engagement that can lead to higher payouts from X.
Trump himself has reposted several of these [foreign MAGA] accounts on his Truth Social platform.
On Sunday, he reposted from an account called “Commentary Donald J. Trump” asking: ”Would you support the idea of foreign-born citizens be barred from running for office? Yes or no” atop a photo of Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar and Minnesota State Senator Omar Fateh. But the account itself is based in Africa.
… The implications for the feature go beyond exposing foreign accounts trying to profit from influencing American politics. In Iran, X is blocked, although Iranians can use VPNs to get around the ban.
However, Radio Free Europe pointed out that the new feature exposes which Iran-based accounts do not need a VPN, which some in Iran are allowed to use. According to the BBC, several accounts promoting Scottish independence were revealed to be based in the Netherlands but were accessing X via the Android app in Iran. Researchers have previously reported that Iran has backed an online influence network promoting Scottish independence….”