X (formerly Twitter) is prepping a new transparency feature, and it’s already stirring conversation. Head of Product Nikita Bier previewed a redesigned “About this account” section that displays when someone joined the platform, the country their account is based in, how many times they’ve changed usernames, and even where the account is connected from. In the sample shared, his own profile is tagged as being based in the United States and connected via the U.S. App Store.
According to Bier, the goal is to help users verify authenticity and reduce inauthentic engagement. The rollout begins next week with a limited test on profiles belonging to X staff, where the company will quietly gather reactions before expanding it further.
"When you read content on X, you should be able to verify its authenticity. This is critical to getting a pulse on important issues happening in the world. As part of that, we're experimenting with displaying new information on profiles, including which country an account is based, among other details. Starting next week, we will surface this on a handful of profiles of X team members to get feedback."
~ Nikita Bier, X head of product.But while transparency sounds noble, privacy concerns are lurking just beneath the surface. Displaying a person’s location, even at the country level, opens up uncomfortable possibilities. Users who rely on anonymity for their safety could find themselves newly exposed, especially in the wake of the new Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes law. Activists, political critics and journalists operating in hostile environments might suddenly be easier to identify or target. Even everyday users could become subjects of harassment based on where they’re tweeting from, and that’s before governments or online trolls get involved. The line between context and surveillance feels very thin with a change like this.
And for Kenyan users, the whole thing has a familiar scent. It’s hard to forget the era when tweets loudly displayed “Twitter for Android” or “Twitter for iPhone” beneath every post. What was meant to be a harmless technical label morphed into a full-blown class Olympics. iPhone users anointed themselves digital royalty, while Android tweeters were painted as budget citizens of the timeline. Countless clapbacks, memes and condescending quote tweets were born from a single line of text. It became so divisive that Twitter eventually buried the tags to stop the madness.
Now imagine that same energy resurrected, only this time with “Based in Kenya App Store” or “Account based in Uganda” quietly sitting under your profile. It doesn’t take much to picture someone tweeting nonsense and being put in their place with a screenshot and a snide remark about their region. The internet has never needed much fuel.
This new feature also arrives at a time when X has already been busy on several other fronts. Elon Musk recently clarified that the platform isn’t scrapping creator payouts, but actually believes creators are underpaid and is considering a model inspired by YouTube. Synced drafts have finally been rolled out across both app and web, ending years of inconvenience. And tests are underway to change how X handles links to external websites, another sign of ongoing platform evolution.
Whether this new account-labeling experiment becomes a tool for credibility or a fresh avenue for chaos will depend on how far X takes it and how users react once it escapes the testing stage. The intention might be authenticity, but the execution could easily drift into exposure and unwanted judgment.
If history is any guide, Kenyans on X won’t just accept it quietly. They’ll turn it into commentary, content and comedy before the ink dries.
