Social media platform X is rolling out a new feature for users, which displays the location of the owner of the profile. While the feature is still undergoing corrections and fixes post the rollout, many have concerns with the consequences. Nikita Bier, head of product at X, had announced the impending launch of this feature near the end of October this year, saying that it would first be rolled out for accounts of X employees only, and then to a wider reach.
The location display feature has been showing up on the profiles of more and more X users by the day since its launch on November 21, with X’s Bier saying that the intention is to reduce activity of bots, and to allow users to verify the validity of other accounts. Bier also revealed that in the near future of this feature, X will also flag certain locations as dubious or unreliable, if it finds that the users have used VPNs at the time of creating the account.
Until now, once enabled, X has displayed the country of the user or the origin of a user. With the new feature, it is possible to pinpoint locations to the state or even city the profile is operating in. Further, apart from the location, the profiles will also display how many times the username has been changed.
Bier has also promised, despite all the initial glitches to the rollout, that the accuracy of this feature is expected to be nearly 99.99% once the rollout is properly completed. As of now, several users have complained that their profiles are displaying the wrong location. To this, Bier responded to a post on X, saying that the glitch might be occurring due to the user’s recent travels and the app picking up the older accessed IP address. He also said the X team are looking into this loophole and that it will be corrected within the next few days.
From Glitches to Global Politics
With the rollout of this feature, some troll and bot accounts have been exposed as a consequence, including propaganda accounts on US President Donald Trump. On checking the location on these profiles, it was found that they originated from South Asian, African and some European countries. While the location display has not started showing up on all X profile pages, the number is growing steadily, and will be visible for all profiles soon. As of now, iPhone users can disable the location display from the settings tab.
The move also spurred some tension in India, with mudslinging between political parties claiming that rival parties’ X handles originate from foreign countries. These rumours, however, were quelled after Bier’s clarification. While this move, once properly and uniformly launched sans glitches, can certainly be helpful to those dealing with trolling, bullying from unknown accounts, or even to check the validity of claims made by X users, it can also be unprecedentedly revealing for others who would rather not reveal their location to other X users.
X vs. The Field
While the feature is still taking shape, the mechanism to disable the location feature in the settings tab is also functioning disproportionately for different users. Also, while the app allows for the current location to be disabled, the details of where the account was first created and when, will still be visible.
Instagram also has displayed profile details like the previous user names of the account, origin country and how long the account has been active. However, the app does not display the current location of the user unless the account holder chooses to put that detail on their profile. In the case of X, the location display will be a default setting unless manually disabled. As for Tiktok, while the app does collect location data, it is not for the purpose of displaying, rather it uses the information to curate content for the user on the For You pages.
On Facebook, the location of a user is visible on the profile page only if the user chooses it, and manually enters a location into their About You details for the purpose of public display.
Notably, the feature was disabled post rollout for a brief period, when some alleged misinformation about the US Department of Homeland Security was being shared on the platform. A screenshot showing the location display page of the DHS’s X profile showed that the account was first created in Tel Aviv, Israel. The resharing of this post was followed by a denial by the DHS, and the removal of this feature, after it returned later last Friday.
Troll accounts and bots on social media platforms have been a concern ever since apps like Instagram, Facebook, Tiktok and X became popular. As for the incorrect location on certain profiles, including the DHS’s, Bier said on record, “The account creation country was incorrect on a very small subset of old accounts due to IP ranges changing over time.” Speaking specifically of the DHS account Bier explained that so far, no government account has the location display feature on. Moreover, as per X records, the DHS account has only ever shown US locations, therefore, the circulated screenshot “must be a photoshopped image and an attempt at misinformation”. X’s decision to make location details public comes as a double-edged sword for users.
While it is unreliable in its nascent stage, showing incorrect locations and being non-uniform in availability to users, its purpose in the future remains to be seen. Will it serve more to expose bad faith actors and bots on the social media platform, or will it put individual users at risk of having their locations traced through X. More details on the nature of this feature and how to navigate it are awaited from X, to see if the feature is protecting users or putting them more at risk. X has shared that they are still working on perfecting the feature for now.
