Elon Musk gave us a formidable weapon for spotting disinformation on X

If you hang out on X, the concept of foreign influencer accounts is not unfamiliar to you. There are many troll farms on the social network and some are formidable in the art of dissimulation.

Now it’s easier to spot them thanks to the option “About this account”. Any user can view the information and geographic origin on an account profile by clicking on the three small dots to the left of the subscription button.

Since launch, many accounts spreading misinformation have been discovered. A certified profile even impersonates Tom Homan, the head of US migration policy. Whoever is behind it is in Eastern Europe.

There are many accounts supporting Donald Trump that operate from Nigeria and Bangladesh. Internet users have even found alleged “independent American women supporting Trump” who were actually based in Thailand.

Since then, the community has mobilized. There are many threads listing pro-MAGA accounts that are operated from abroad. In short, an imposter hunt thanks to this new tool “About this account” added by Elon Musk.

But note that figures from the American right have also highlighted the existence of false profiles in the opposite camp. Manipulation therefore affects the entire American political spectrum.

Accounts that stir up hatred in the debate

Since then, there have been endless lists of accounts that have only one goal: to stir up partisan tensions and division in the United States. X, however, modified its tool by removing data on the place of creation of the accounts.

The platform also specifies that the use of a VPN and the movement of proxy servers distort geolocation. So yes, this is valid for certain profiles, but it cannot explain the vast majority of pinned accounts.

Behind these fake accounts are surely campaigns carried out by countries enemies of the United States such as Russia, China or Iran. These countries have an interest in weakening the democratic debate in the United States.

But there is also the lure of profit. Certain accounts which operate from poor territories glean considerable sums, even if they seem insignificant to us, with monetization on X. Stirring up hatred arouses reactions and therefore commitments.

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