Accounts supporting Donald Trump and the MAGA movement on Twitter, which had gained popularity, have been revealed to originate from Eastern Europe and other regions.
Following Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter in October 2022, allowing users to monetize their viral posts, many anonymous profiles flooded the platform seeking attention through pro-Trump and MAGA content. This influx raised suspicions online that these accounts were not operated from the United States.
To earn money from their posts, users on the platform must actively monetize their content and have an XPremium subscription. Although Musk intended this to eliminate bots, it seems to have incentivized accounts outside the US to generate controversy or appeal to specific groups to raise funds.
Several accounts, such as one impersonating White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s husband with a location set to Nigeria, and another supporting White House Border Czar Tom Homan from Virginia but actually operated from Eastern Europe, were identified.
Accounts like AmericanPatriot, claiming to be based in Florida but actually in Chile, and Fan Trump Army, tweeting from south Asia despite claiming to be in the US, were exposed. Similarly, conservative influencers using Trump family member names and photos were found to be based outside the US, including Barron Trump News located in Eastern Europe.
Twitter’s head of product, Nikita Bier, announced plans to introduce a feature displaying an account’s country or region, aiming to enhance transparency and user information verification. This move was welcomed on the platform for increasing transparency and awareness about account origins.
Furthermore, accounts supporting pro-Democrat causes were discovered to be based in Africa, notably Kenya, while pro-Israel profiles were traced back to India and other countries.
The initiative received positive feedback for promoting transparency and informing users about the origins of the accounts they follow. Additionally, accounts representing various groups and movements from abroad were identified.