Social media platform X says it has suspended more than 13,000 accounts connected to three suspected foreign influence operations. The company linked the networks to Iran, Russia and China and said they aimed to shape political debate in the United States.
X announced the suspensions on Wednesday while outlining its plans for the November 3 US midterm elections. The company said its investigations found the networks used fake accounts to post and amplify political content. That content targeted candidates and public figures “across the political spectrum.”
X’s election rules and reporting tools
X said it identified the accounts through “proactive sweeps and investigations” under its rules against spam and coordinated inauthentic behaviour. A company spokesperson in Global Government Affairs said the platform wants to keep online conversation “authentic, open, and safe.”
The platform also set out rules against misleading information about how, when or where to vote. Its policies also cover efforts to suppress turnout, voter intimidation and calls for violence near polling stations. Users can report election-related posts through a “civic integrity” option to request a community note that adds context. In urgent cases, X said it may label posts that break its election rules.
OpenAI disclosure and earlier action against networks
The announcement came a week after OpenAI said it had shut down two alleged influence operations, one linked to Russia and one to Iran. According to OpenAI, those operations used ChatGPT to create fake journalist personas and to run a “think-tank” that covertly spread anti-Ukraine propaganda.
X has taken similar steps before. In 2021, Twitter, as X was then known, said it had suspended 238 accounts purportedly operating from Iran.
