According to Mashable, Elon Musk’s X rolled out a highly anticipated country of origin feature late Friday night that allowed users to view exactly which nation an account was posting from based on their IP address. The feature appeared when clicking on a user’s join date, revealing both current location and where they were when creating the account. X’s head of product Nikita Bier had previously demoed the feature on his own account before the broader rollout. However, just hours after its public debut, the country of origin information was suddenly removed from all user profiles without explanation. Bier responded to user complaints about inaccurate location data, including one case where Starlink connections showed incorrect countries. The feature removal appears temporary while X fixes technical issues with VPNs and other location inaccuracies.
The Location Accuracy Problem
Here’s the thing about IP-based location detection: it’s notoriously unreliable. When users started reporting that their country of origin was showing up wrong, Bier had some interesting explanations. One user called “Canadian Beaver” was showing as being in the United States despite actually residing in Canada. Bier’s response? “Looks like Starlink threw us off.” Another user had their join location incorrectly displayed as Korea because they used a VPN when registering back in 2022. Basically, X discovered what every tech company learns eventually – IP geolocation is messy business. VPNs, satellite internet, corporate networks – they all play havoc with location accuracy. And when you’re displaying this information publicly, getting it wrong isn’t just embarrassing – it could have real consequences for users.
Why Users Actually Wanted This
What’s fascinating is that users were broadly welcoming this feature. In today’s climate of online misinformation and geopolitical tensions, people want to know where content is actually coming from. Many users feel this would discourage foreign actors from spreading propaganda related to political discussions. Facebook has had a similar feature for Facebook Pages for years, showing the country of origin for page administrators. But X’s approach was more comprehensive – applying to all users, not just pages. The question is: does the benefit of transparency outweigh the risks of inaccurate data? When someone’s account shows they’re posting from Russia but they’re actually using a VPN from Canada, that could create some serious misunderstandings.
The Rollercoaster Ride Continues
Based on Bier’s responses, this seems like a temporary removal rather than a permanent cancellation. He mentioned adding indicators for VPN-affected accounts, with updates planned for Monday on Android and iOS and tomorrow on web. But this entire episode is classic X under Musk – roll out features quickly, discover problems, pull back, and iterate. It’s fast-moving but often messy. The bigger picture here is about trust and transparency on social platforms. Users want to know who they’re interacting with, but platforms need to balance that with accuracy and privacy concerns. We’ll soon see if X can get the technical details right before bringing this feature back. One thing’s for sure – in the world of social media features, sometimes the rollout is just as interesting as the feature itself.
