Elon Musk’s X erupted in uproar after the rollout of a feature revealing an account’s location, exposing what users describe as global troll farms and influence operations on the platform — including in support of President Donald Trump.X’s head of product Nikita Bier launched the feature over the weekend, allowing users “to see the country or region where an account is based,” in a bid to boost transparency on a platform that tech experts say is rife with disinformation.”This is an important first step to securing the integrity of the global town square,” Bier wrote on X.The launch triggered a wave of online sleuthing.Almost immediately, the platform flooded with posts flagging dozens of right-wing internet personalities — promoters of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) or “America First” political slogans — whose location data showed they were in Nigeria, Bangladesh, or Eastern Europe.”Why are so many MAGA influencers from outside the U.S.? It’s almost as if they are working for foreign governments,” liberal influencer Ed Krassenstein wrote in a post.The feature also seemed to vindicate researchers who warned during last year’s US presidential election that a network of MAGA accounts — posing as “Trump-supporting independent women” and using stolen photos of European models and influencers — was operating overseas.”X’s new account info showed many of these ‘American’ women were actually based in Thailand, with some tied to Myanmar,” Benjamin Strick, the London-based director of investigations at the Centre for Information Resilience, told AFP.”Before this change we could show these profiles were fake, but we had almost no visibility on where they were run from, and often had to rely on ‘slip ups’ posted by the accounts, time posting patterns and irregularities in language.”Now we can see that many of the accounts in this specific network are linked to Southeast Asia, which brings us closer to understanding who might be behind them,” Strick added.- ‘Rough edges’ -Reflecting a hyperpolarized political climate, some right-wing personalities also pointed fingers at left-wing users seemingly posting from suspicious locations.X, however, cautioned that the location data “may not be accurate and can change periodically.”When users clicked on an account’s location, a pop up noted: “The country or region that an account is based can be impacted by recent travel or temporary relocation.”Some users may also be connected via a VPN that can mask their real location.”There are a few rough edges that will be resolved by Tuesday,” Bier wrote after the feature’s launch.Late Sunday, Bier said an “upgrade” was upcoming that will ensure “accuracy will be nearly 99.99%”Some users criticized the launch, warning that it could expose the locations of dissidents and protestors in autocratic states. Bier, however, said that for users in countries “where speech has penalties,” the feature includes privacy toggles that reveal only the region.Soon after the launch, some apparent imposter accounts with vast followings were suddenly taken down without any explanation.One X handle posing as a fan account for Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter, was suspended after users noted that its location was listed as Nigeria.The account, which had amassed more than one million followers, regularly posted pro-Trump content as well as Islamophobic and anti-immigration messages.X did not respond to AFP’s request for comment on the suspension.As tech platforms scale back content moderation and reduce their reliance on human fact-checkers, disinformation researchers warn of a growing threat from Russian and Chinese actors seeking to sow political chaos in Western countries — as well as from overseas influencers driven by the prospect of monetary gain.The new feature “shines a light on a fundamental problem with social media today: paid actors are deliberately inflaming difficult issues because controversy attracts attention,” Amy Bruckman, a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, told AFP.”It’s a difficult situation, and I believe we need more trustworthy platforms that don’t allow people to behave badly.”burs-ac/sms/sla

A federal judge on Monday dismissed the criminal cases against former FBI director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, dealing a blow to US President Donald Trump’s efforts to prosecute his political opponents.District Judge Cameron Currie threw out both cases on the grounds that the US attorney handpicked by Trump who brought the charges was unlawfully appointed.Comey, 64, was charged in September with making false statements to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding in what was widely seen as retribution by the Republican president against a political opponent.James, 67, a Democrat who successfully prosecuted Trump for fraud, was indicted the following month on one count of bank fraud and a second one of making false statements to a financial institution.Both indictments were brought by interim US Attorney Lindsey Halligan, who was described by Currie in her dismissal rulings as “a former White House aide with no prior prosecutorial experience.”Top federal prosecutors are subject to Senate confirmation and Currie said Halligan had been unlawfully appointed because her predecessor was also serving in an acting capacity and US law does not allow two successive interim prosecutors.”All actions flowing from Ms Halligan’s defective appointment, including securing and signing Mr Comey’s indictment, were unlawful exercises of executive power,” the judge said.”And because Ms Halligan had no lawful authority to present the indictment, I will grant Mr Comey’s motion and dismiss the indictment without prejudice.”She made a similar ruling in James’s case.The Comey and James indictments came after the interim US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Erik Siebert, stepped down after reportedly telling Justice Department leaders there was insufficient evidence to charge them.Attorney General Pam Bondi replaced Siebert with Halligan, and she secured the indictments.Dismissing the indictments without prejudice leaves open the possibility of the charges being filed again, although the statute of limitations in the Comey case may have since expired.Comey and James also sought to have the indictments tossed on the grounds they were a vindictive prosecution. Those arguments were heard by a different judge.- ‘Stand up’ -Comey, in a post on Instagram, welcomed the dismissal of a case that he said was “based on malevolence and incompetence.””This case mattered to me personally, obviously, but it matters most because a message has to be sent that the president of the United States cannot use the Department of Justice to target his political enemies,” he said.Comey urged Americans to “stand up and show the fools who would frighten us, who would divide us, that we’re made of stronger stuff, that we believe in the rule of law.”White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the Justice Department will appeal the rulings “so maybe James Comey should pump the brakes on his victory lap.”James also welcomed the dismissal of the indictment and said she will “remain fearless in the face of these baseless charges.”After Trump left the White House in 2021, James won a civil fraud case against him, alleging he and his real estate company had unlawfully inflated his wealth and manipulated the value of properties to obtain favorable bank loans or insurance terms.Comey was appointed to head the FBI by president Barack Obama in 2013 and was fired by Trump in 2017 amid a probe into whether any members of the Trump presidential campaign had colluded with Moscow to sway the 2016 vote.The charges against Comey came just days after Trump publicly urged Bondi to take action against the former FBI director and others he sees as enemies — a stunning departure from the principle that the Justice Department must be free from White House pressure.Since taking office in January, Trump has taken a number of punitive measures against perceived enemies, purging government officials he deemed to be disloyal, targeting law firms involved in past cases against him and pulling federal funding from universities.Another Trump critic, his former national security advisor John Bolton, has been indicted for allegedly transmitting and retaining classified information.In another development, the Pentagon said Monday that it was considering a court-martial against Democratic senator and former astronaut Mark Kelly for appearing in a video urging troops to refuse unlawful orders.