The rollout of the “About this account" feature on X has stirred intense controversy across social media and politics. By showing where an account is based — inferred from IP and app data — the platform has lifted the veil on the online geography of many high-follower influencers. In India, this has triggered a heated debate. Supporters of the ruling dispensation largely remain India-based, while a notable portion of anti-establishment or critical voices appear to operate from abroad. The discrepancy has reignited warnings about foreign influence, provoked privacy concerns and reopened discussion on digital sovereignty and transparency.

Combining a sample from my analysis with public reporting to examine what the data reveals about patterns of influence on X, the new location labels show a clear asymmetry — a domestically rooted pro-regime camp and a partly globalised anti-establishment camp — with likely consequences for digital discourse in India.

While my analysis is based on a focused sample (influencers with followers more than a lakh each, non-journalist, non-party aligned), it cannot be dismissed as a deliberately misrepresentative study of all influencers on X, as I used multiple AI tools to scan users who fit the description rather than picking them manually.

Last weekend, X publicly launched a transparency feature intended to help users verify the authenticity of accounts.

By clicking the “Joined" date on a profile, a visitor can see:

According to X’s head of product, the feature is aimed at curbing misinformation and foreign influence by providing context where previously there was none.

Users can choose a privacy setting: instead of naming a specific country, the account may display only a broader region (for example, “South Asia"). That option is promoted especially for users in countries with restrictions on free speech.

But the initial rollout was messy. Users soon noticed inaccuracies — accounts flagged as being based in improbable countries; companies and organisations showing as located far from their headquarters; and even some users from countries like Canada seeing “United States" as their base.

Reacting to the backlash, X removed the “account created in" location field within hours, admitting that for older accounts, the data was unreliable. In an update, X added a disclaimer warning that location data may change with travel, VPN use or proxy connections. Still, X defends the feature as a........

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