X's New 'About This Account' Tool Exposes Pakistan-Linked Trolls Stirring Political Chaos In India

Ever since social media platform X revealed its 'About This Account' feature globally, it has caused nothing but mayhem. From exposiing MAGA propoganda to massive trolling of spam accounts, X users have been kept busy. In a new revelation, a network of foreign-operated X accounts have now been exposed posing as Indian users to amplify political propaganda and divisive narratives within the country. Many of these accounts, were traced back to locations in Pakistan and West Asia.

India Today’s Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) team released its findings, highlighting accounts of Indian profiles, complete wiprofile pictures of saree-clad women and bios that read 'Jai Hind', that were operating from regions like Pakistan. These accounts claim to be of users from Uttar Pradesh or Mumbai. They have been actively sharing opinions on the Bihar elections and even the Red Fort blast.

However, after the release of 'About This Account' feature, these profiles were found to be originating from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and West Asia. One account, going by the username @chaturvediswat, has posted over 2,000 posts against the Indian government on topics ranging from the Red Fort black and Bihar elections. The new X feature revealed that this account is actually based out of Pakistan.

Similarly, accounts from regions of West Asia and Saudi Arabia have been posing as Indians and are indulging in heated debates on political and religious matters. These accounts use flawless Hindi to conversate online, and the investigation reveals that there are several accounts on X that are based out of a foreign country, but are heavily inciting propoganda in the country.

How accurate is X's new feature?

X's new 'About This Account' feature uses IP data to display the user's country. Several users claim that there are several technical hurdles posed by VPN's and proxy servers that could mask true locations. For instance, BJP Gujarat's official X handle was listed to be from Ireland. X removed the error as soon as it was flagged.

"This data may not be accurate. Some internet providers may use proxies automatically without action by the user. If any data is incorrect, it will be updated periodically based on best available information," Nikita Bier, X's Head of Product, said in a statement.

In any case, this feature will most likely be beneficial going forward, espicially during high impact events like elections and communal tensions. It will be a little more difficult for fake accounts to spread propoganda. However, there are several workarounds to mask origin as mentioned above, and social media behemoths needs to bring more robust tools to ensure better transparency.