Global Disclosures, Local Realities

A new transparency feature rolled out by social media giant X has revealed that numerous influential accounts supporting former U.S. President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) movement are operated from outside the United States. The “About This Account” feature, which became widely available on Friday, 21 November 2025, allows users to see the country or region where an account is based, unmasking a global network of political commentators posing as American citizens.

The disclosures have sent shockwaves through online political circles. For instance, an account named MAGANationX, with nearly 400,000 followers and a bio claiming to be a “Patriot Voice for We The People,” was found to be operating from Eastern Europe. Another prominent profile, IvankaNews, a fan account for Ivanka Trump with approximately one million followers that frequently posts content critical of immigration, was revealed to be based in Nigeria. Other pro-Trump accounts were traced to India, Bangladesh, and Thailand.

Even as their foreign locations were exposed over the weekend, Donald Trump continued to amplify their content, sharing screenshots from their posts on his Truth Social platform. One such account, “Fan Trump Army,” with over 500,000 followers, was revealed to be run from India. Another account he promoted, which posted divisive content about foreign-born politicians, appeared to be operated from an unspecified location in Africa.

Kenya's Connection to Global Digital Campaigns

The revelations have a direct and significant resonance for Kenya, not only as a consumer of global information but as a participant in these international influence campaigns. The same X feature that exposed the overseas MAGA accounts also identified a popular anti-Trump account, self-described as a “Proud Democrat” and “Professional MAGA hunter” with over 52,000 followers, as being operated from Kenya. Additionally, users discovered a popular Liverpool FC fan page with over 483,000 followers, which presented itself as UK-based, was also being run from Kenya.

This discovery places Kenya within the complex global web of digital actors who, whether for financial gain or ideological reasons, participate in the political discourse of other nations. This phenomenon is not new to the country. Kenya has a documented history of both foreign interference in its own elections and a burgeoning local industry of “disinformation-for-hire.” The British firm Cambridge Analytica infamously used Kenya's 2013 and 2017 elections as a testing ground for data-driven campaigns that exploited societal divisions.

A Fertile Ground for Disinformation

Kenya’s vibrant and highly active social media environment, particularly on X (where users are known as KOT, or Kenyans on Twitter), makes it a prime arena for such campaigns. Research from the Mozilla Foundation and others has uncovered a “booming and shadowy industry” of local influencers who can be paid to push specific political narratives, often using coordinated inauthentic behaviour to make hashtags trend. These paid campaigns have been used to attack journalists, judges, and civil society activists within Kenya.

A recent report by Amnesty International, released on Tuesday, 18 November 2025, detailed how Kenyan authorities allegedly deployed “technology-facilitated violence” to suppress the Gen Z-led protests of 2024 and 2025. The report highlights the use of state-sponsored trolls on X to spread disinformation, amplify pro-government messages, and harass activists. These domestic tactics mirror the strategies of deception seen in the foreign-run MAGA accounts, demonstrating a shared global playbook of digital manipulation.

While much of the disinformation in Kenya's recent elections has been assessed as “homegrown,” the infrastructure and skills developed for these local campaigns are evidently transferable to the international stage. The financial incentive is a significant driver, with one investigation finding that local influencers could be paid between $10 and $15 USD daily to participate in campaigns, with payments facilitated through mobile money platforms.

Implications for East Africa

The unmasking of these global networks serves as a critical alert for Kenya and the wider East African region. It highlights the vulnerability of digital spaces to manipulation, where foreign and domestic actors can operate anonymously to sow division, influence political outcomes, and erode trust in democratic institutions. The ease with which accounts based in Africa are participating in high-stakes American political debates underscores the borderless nature of modern information warfare.

As Kenya approaches its next election cycle, the revelations from X’s new feature are a stark reminder of the need for enhanced digital literacy among the public and greater transparency from social media platforms. While X's move has been praised as a step toward integrity, the company has acknowledged that the location data can be masked by VPNs and that it is still refining the feature's accuracy. The challenge remains for policymakers, civil society, and citizens to build resilience against a sophisticated and globalized disinformation ecosystem.