Are anti-India X handles being run from Pakistan and Bangladesh? What X’s new feature reveals

Recently, Elon Musk’s X launched a new feature, ‘About this location’ — and it has quickly led to an uproar in India as well as the United States. The social media platform’s new feature revealing an account’s location has exposed what users describe as global troll farms.

In India, X’s feature has revealed that several politically active accounts, especially those critical of the government, are based outside the country, with the BJP claiming that this clearly shows the conspiracy to influence Indian discourse.

Here’s what we know so far about this new controversy.

X’s all new location feature

Over the weekend, the Elon Musk-owned platform began rolling out a new feature for user profiles that displays information about the account, including where it’s based, how many times the account has changed its username, the account’s original join date, and how the user downloaded the X app.

In a couple hours, we'll be rolling out About This Account globally, allowing you to see the country or region where an account is based. This will be accessible by tapping the signup date on profiles.

This is an important first step to securing the integrity of the global town… pic.twitter.com/5d7cX21qGj

— Nikita Bier (@nikitabier) November 22, 2025

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The feature was launched to reduce inauthentic engagement on the platform, where bots often pretend to be humans — a problem that could get even harder to police in the age of AI.

X’s plan to launch this feature was first announced in October with X’s head of product Nikita Bier announcing that the company would experiment with displaying information about the user’s location on their profiles. The idea, he said, was that by exposing these details, users would be able to make a more informed decision about whether they’re interacting with an authentic account or if the account was a bot or bad actor, looking to sow discord or spread misinformation.

For instance, if an X account’s bio claimed the user was from a US state, but their account information shows that they’re based overseas, you might suspect they had another agenda.

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The anti-India agenda exposed

Shortly after X launched the location feature, it has exposed a network of foreign-operated accounts, who are peddling divisive narratives within the country. Many of the accounts which are particularly critical of the government and anti-Hindu in nature are being run from Pakistan, Bangladesh and other Asian nations.

Take for instance, X user with the profile, @ChaturvediSwat. This user has been very vocal in their criticism of Modi and his administration; on August 30, the user even posted: “Pray for Punjab because Modi sarkar is not doing anything for #PunjabFloods.”

Now, X’s new location feature reveals that this user account is based in Pakistan.
Other similar examples exist, including the accounts of ‘Diya Sharma’ and ‘Yashita Nagpal’. X’s location feature shows that both these accounts, who have posted messages against the Modi government, are based in Pakistan.

Another account is “Indian Muslim Archieve” that has the handle “Rustum_0”. The account shows “South Asia” as origin and is known for posting misleading history content. Another striking example is that of @Tractor2twitr_P, a X user who has positioned itself on Sikh identity and farmer issues. On its profile, it claimed to be from Ludhiana. However, the location feature showed that the account was based in Australasia.

Similar patters could be seen in accounts, which have been posting polarising rhetoric. As News18 reported, several high-activity profiles pushing language, caste and cultural grievance narratives were revealed to be based in Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States, even as they projected lived experiences inside India.

BJP’s strong response

Reacting to the revelations, BJP’s I-T cell chief Amit Malviya called the pattern a coordinated global operation to influence India’s social discourse and spread misinformation.

“A large number of pro-Congress, anti-Hindu, and divisive caste-based handles are not even operating from India. Many are being run from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and other parts of Asia and the world. Almost all of them have changed their usernames multiple times to mask their identity,” wrote Malviya on X.

He further wrote, “What does this show? A coordinated global operation to influence India’s social discourse, spread misinformation, and deepen internal divisions. This conspiracy against India now stands exposed.”

A similar pattern in the US too

Notably, X’s location feature has also triggered a storm in the United States. Several dozens of right-wing personalities and promoters of Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ are accounts based in Nigeria, Bangladesh, or Eastern Europe.

For example, an account called ‘IvankaNews_’, which describes itself as a fan account for Trump’s daughter, has gathered more than one million followers and has previously posted about voting for the president last year. However, the account is based in Nigeria and its username has changed 11 times since 2010, according to X.

Other such examples also exist. An account that calls itself “ULTRAMAGA 🇺🇸 TRUMP🇺🇸2028,” claiming to be based in Washington, DC, is listed as being based in Africa. Another now-deleted account with a President Donald Trump-inspired username — “Trump Is My President” — was listed as being based in Macedonia. And an account with the username @American, complete with a profile picture featuring a bald eagle over an American flag, is apparently based in South Asia.

Accuracy of X’s feature

While the new feature has exposed some, it has also triggered a flurry of posts from users saying the new feature misrepresented where they were located.

Responding to this, X cautioned that the location data “may not be accurate and can change periodically”.

“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 per cent.”

With inputs from agencies