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X’s new location labels unmask users. Insiders say the idea was rejected for years.
(www.nbcnews.com)
this post was submitted on 25 Nov 2025
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Honestly, I would be very much down to see this on Lemmy too. "This account was registered from country X" "Last post from country Y" (Or alternatively, "Last post from known VPN" so you at least know it's happening.)
It adds some interesting context at the very least.
Trolls and troll farms will circumvent this as soon as it becomes a feature.
Naaaaaaaah, as if any comment could contain BS
This User commented from Ilha da Queimada Grande
Posted from the Thaumasia Quadrangle
Did you know Americans (and other nationals of any country) also live in other countries? Personally, I could be in several different countries at any given time, not accounting for VPN use.
The feature doesn't reveal much.
That said, I also support the feature because it is data held by privileged users already. Make all privileged data public. No one should have more rights than anyone else, besides the greater rights we have over ourselves.
So what? So for every 1 in 100 times an "American" account is revealed to be posting from overseas it's actually an American? 1% false positives, I'll take that, fine. This still seems useful to me.
I already said it is useful to know. It isn't useful to take drastic action with, however.
"That it is better 100 guilty Persons should escape than that one innocent Person should suffer."
I travel constantly and use Lemmy. I don’t know what I’d do if someone attacked any opinion or statement I made because of the country I posted from. Have to explain each time why my IP says whatever country?
Right. It is a bad mechanism if used for that purpose.
The correct way to do what they actually want is to have a global, anonymous nationality verification. There are all kinds of ways to do this that aren't dystopian. Then, if desired, there can be attestation to nationality without disclosure of personal information.
That would allow us to appropriately measure the national origins of content, and I could see the use of that.
Instead, people are supporting a deeply flawed mechanism as "good enough," as they always do. It is lazy, sloppy, and dangerous.
To that end, if it continues to go that way, there are countless ways to undermine it. That's also what makes it so stupid. Dishonest actors will easily circumvent it, and honest actors will once again be left suffering.