Many of the MAGA influencers outed as living in countries like Nigeria and Bangladesh have since vanished from X.

The users, who had over a million followers between them, had their country of origin exposed over the weekend as part of a new X feature that now shows where accounts were created and how their owners downloaded the social platform’s app.

Four prominent accounts unmasked by the feature—DarkMAGA, MagaScope, WilliamAlbrech, and IvankaNews_—now show as being “suspended” for violating “X rules,” though it is unclear which. X’s website says it bars users who pretend to be someone they are not—something all the accounts appear to be guilty of.

  • 4am@lemmy.zip
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    13
    ·
    4 hours ago

    I was wondering if this is just because of VPN use or something but nope this confirms they’re actually just hired trolls and the rubes have been manipulated this whole time. Fucking pathetic how dumb we are.

  • taiyang@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    14
    ·
    7 hours ago

    I wonder. People saying it isn’t VPNs aren’t necessarily wrong but I do want to say it’s likely they are using bot networks to mass create accounts and those might use IP rotation. Those IPs can come from any fucking place. I’ve only seen it from scraping operations, but I bet it’s necessary when mass operating bullshit accounts.

    US proxies exist, but they’re more expensive and wouldn’t make as much sense for mass creating if your goal is just to avoid getting blocked.

  • 2piradians@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    87
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    9 hours ago

    Maybe try not being followers who allow ourselves to be influenced. I think if you had described this social media situation to average people 20 years ago most would have seen it as dystopian, evil even. But because it happened so gradually it gained acceptance.

    I guess what I’m saying is we should get the hell rid of it all so eventually public opinion won’t be swayed by cheap foreign labor, bots, and people who just want to burn it all down.

    But we won’t because too many think all this is better than the world before it existed.

    /rant

    • Horsecook@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      8
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      7 hours ago

      If only we could go back to the halcyon days of twenty years ago, when people were not influenced by talkshow hosts, athletes hawking household goods, and tabloids breathlessly reporting on actors and socialites.

    • Iced Raktajino@startrek.website
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      30
      ·
      edit-2
      9 hours ago

      I guess what I’m saying is we should get the hell rid of it all so eventually public opinion won’t be swayed by cheap foreign labor, bots, and people who just want to burn it all down.

      I’ve blocked so many accounts on here that are clearly not Americans just straight up trying to incite shit in US news / politics communities. I don’t know what’s worse: the number of upvotes those get or how transparent they are.

      • Augustiner@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        18
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        8 hours ago

        Always feel conflicted blocking guys like this… I wanna keep seeing them so I can downvote, but they also are just fucking annoying and toxic.

    • atomicbocks@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      6 hours ago

      I mean… 20 years ago when we only had Xanga, MySpace, Friendster, LiveJournal, LinkedIn, and many others. Even Facebook is 21 years old now… though it didn’t become available for everyone for a couple years after that.

    • Kirp123@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      10
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      9 hours ago

      That requires a population that is educated and can critically read and analyze media. Don’t think any country in the world has that.

  • TomMasz@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    12
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    8 hours ago

    I’m not sure I can believe that Elon thought this wouldn’t have a downside. He had to know so many right-wing chud accounts weren’t US based.

  • Formfiller@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    8 hours ago

    If all else fails maybe he could try not being a morally bankrupt pos and get some therapy to get people to like him but in all honesty he’s irredeemable and needs to go to prison

    • chiliedogg@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      31
      ·
      9 hours ago

      The accounts are largely based in countries that are suspected by many to be manipulating US public opinion (e.g.Russia/Israel) or from countries with lots of click farms, scam centers, and other “engagement” services.

      It showed how much of the American right-wing social media sphere wasn’t legitimately American in origin.

      • poVoq@slrpnk.net
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        arrow-down
        5
        ·
        9 hours ago

        Sounds more like countries where the advertisement revenue share model of Shitter made this a lucrative income opportunity.

    • thermal_shock@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      23
      ·
      edit-2
      9 hours ago

      It basically exposed all these accounts as being fake, and spreading MAGA conspiracy bullshit in USA

      Exhibit A

      • idiomaddict@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        8 hours ago

        Totally irrelevant, but something about her posture/clothing looks so physically uncomfortable to me and I can’t put my finger on it.

        • Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          5
          ·
          8 hours ago

          Well she’s cold enough to keep wearing her down jacket and have her non-typing hand tucked in. She’s straight upright, scooting her chair to reach along the row. No lolling back with thigh-highs on the desk for her.

    • Iced Raktajino@startrek.website
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      10
      ·
      edit-2
      9 hours ago

      Basically pretending to be an organic grass-roots movement or to plant the seeds but the movement is to either destabilize or otherwise benefit a foreign entity.

      How do you do my fellow Americans? How about we just start burning stuff down?

      Basically shit like that (it’s not always that transparent except when it is exactly that transparent). See it pretty often even on here (less so since I’ve enabled “turbo” on my block button).

    • ShellMonkey@piefed.socdojo.com
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      9 hours ago

      Not that I pay attention to the platform, but I gather these where prominent accounts claiming to be real muricans who totally supported prez turnip but where entirely fabricated. In theory an account either needs to be legitimate, or marked specifically as a parody of some sort.