For democracy, X marks the spot. But only for now

The user-location feature X rolled out gives democracy hope, but need tosee if itis withdrawn/weakened

- Rahul Sagar

On November 16, Katie Pavlich, an ‘American media personality, urged Elon Musk to have X display where its users are based because “foreign bots are tearing America apart”.

To this plea, Nikita Bier of X replied: “Give me 72 hours.” Since X had already been testing this feature internally, Bier was able to deliver on his promise. But the roll-out of this feature over the past week has upended the “global public square” because it has revealed that a sizeable number of X users are, in fact, impersonators. In recent days, X users have been entertaining each other by exposing how, for instance, “handles” expressing support for white nationalism or outrage at Trump's support for Israel, which purported to be operated by homespun white Americans, are, in fact, operated by users based in countries like Pakistan and Turkey. The irony is profound: For the past decade, Americans have criticised Russia for seeking to undermine their democracy even as some of their precious Major Non-NATO Allies (MNNAs) allies have been running circles around them.

To be sure, much of the impersonation on X seems banal. Since X monetises engagement —by rewarding posts that receive attention — it encourages “grifters” to feign identities that will attract viewers. An embarrassing number of these accounts seem to originate in India, a disgrace that the government ought to address. But once we finish snickering at the chutzpah of burly Punjabis earning their daily bread by pretending to be lightly clad blonde vegans from Texas, there isa more sobering lesson to reflect upon.