Popular social media app X has officially rolled out a new feature, which is set to shake up global politics by exposing influencer accounts which are not who they claim to be.
The update dubbed "About This Account" essentially reveals the country or region where an account was based when it first joined X, and how many times it has changed its username.
Further, the "About this account" feature will also make it known how the X app was downloaded, giving the public some deeper perspective on the particulars of an account.
Hours after going live, users around the world, including in Kenya, began digging into the origins of political accounts, particularly those which have been making waves globally.
One of the most notable discoveries was that some of the big online voices weighing in on matters affecting the U.S. were, in fact, X accounts from countries in Europe, including Russia.
Interestingly, some of the popular "Make America Great Again" (MAGA) and right-wing accounts which present themselves as loud American voices for conservative politics also had their roots in Nigeria.
These accounts could have easily passed for American, as they pushed U.S. culture wars and political propaganda.
In Kenya, the feature has already caused ripples, as it was discovered that The Anfield Talk – one of the most popular pages affiliated to English Premier League club Liverpool, with more than 483,000 followers – was in fact not from the UK and was being run by locals in Kenya.
This is despite the fact that prior to the feature, the page fully presented itself as a U.K.-based account, complete with affiliations to Merseyside. The revelation predictably amused many local fans, who saw it as another example of Kenyans being unexpectedly influential on global online spaces.
Another famous account claiming to be Native American was also found to have roots in Kenya.
However, the new feature also touched on deeper concerns, as it could potentially expose trolls who have developed a knack for hiding behind pseudo accounts to set agendas in the country.
Incidentally, the update came at the back of a report from Amnesty, which alleged that the government was reportedly running a coordinated online campaign to intimidate, track and silence thousands of Gen Z protesters who led demonstrations between June 2024 and July 2025.
According to the report, the government and its allied digital networks weaponised social media platforms to completely muffle dissent. This was done through deployment of what has been dubbed 'technology-facilitated violence', organised largely through X, formerly Twitter, TikTok and Instagram.
The report claims that these platforms were flooded with state-backed trolling, smear campaigns, threats and disinformation, which mainly targeted young activists.
