DHS Rocked by Viral Claims After X Lists Account Location in Israel
A new transparency feature on X has sparked major political controversy after users circulated screenshots claiming the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s official account was listed as being based in Israel. The feature, which quietly appeared on the platform over the weekend, allows users to view the current or past location of an account by tapping the join-date field. While the tool was intended to expose foreign-operated influence accounts posing as Americans, the rollout instead created a wave of confusion and speculation.
Almost immediately, users began posting screen captures showing the DHS location field reading “Tel Aviv, Israel.” The images and videos spread rapidly across X and other platforms, intensifying criticism amid already heightened debate over U.S. support for Israel. Some posts also highlighted a surge of MAGA-branded accounts that appeared to originate from locations in Eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa—supposedly undermining their authenticity.
Initially, DHS responded informally with a meme-like image, but quickly followed with a formal statement denying the claim. The agency insisted that its account had “only ever been run and operated from the United States.”
U.S. Homeland Security was caught operating from Israel and is openly joking about it
America is an occupied country. https://t.co/iDHtRgZyEb
— 𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐔𝐍𝐄𝐒 (@Antunes1) November 23, 2025
https://t.co/Xe6MVghyfV pic.twitter.com/4PJNovdEQT
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) November 22, 2025
X leadership backed that explanation. Nikita Bier, the platform’s Head of Product, called the viral screenshots “fake news,” explaining that a subset of older accounts had been assigned inaccurate creation locations due to shifting IP ranges over the years.
Why so many MAGA accounts are from Israel, India, and Nigeria? pic.twitter.com/26c0UuvmXC
— Yassin (@YassSomali) November 23, 2025
Soon after the uproar, the feature briefly disappeared from the platform before returning with modified behavior. DHS’s account now displays “United States” as its location. However, it remains the only major government-linked account showing location data at all, raising new questions about the feature’s rollout and consistency.
X has said that inaccuracies will continue to be corrected over time, but has not offered a clear timeline for when the feature will be fully reliable.
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