X Testing New Feature Allowing Timeline Filtering by Country
X (formerly Twitter) is reportedly developing a new control that will allow users to filter their timeline feeds by country, a move aimed at giving users greater command over the geographic origin of the content they consume.
Deep Search
According to recent reports and leaked screenshots surfacing on the platform, the feature appears to be in the testing phase and may initially be restricted to X Premium+ subscribers. The tool would enable users to toggle specific countries on or off, effectively curating their “For You” and “Following” feeds to exclude or prioritize posts from selected regions. This development follows closely on the heels of X’s “country-of-origin” profile labels, a transparency measure introduced to display the account creation location of users. While the platform has not released an official launch date, code strings discovered in the app’s backend suggest the rollout could be imminent. The feature aligns with Elon Musk’s broader strategy to combat “global troll farms” and bot networks by allowing real users to isolate their experience from regions known for high volumes of inauthentic activity.
Background Info
Since his acquisition of the platform, Elon Musk has aggressively pursued technical solutions to the “bot problem,” which he has frequently cited as X’s biggest existential threat. Previous attempts have included purging inactive accounts, locking features behind paywalls, and introducing the “verified” checkmark system. The concept of geographic filtering is not entirely new to social media; however, it is typically used by advertisers to target audiences rather than by users to filter incoming content. If implemented, this would be one of the first instances of a major global social platform handing such granular “geoblocking” power directly to the end-user. This follows a period of heightened scrutiny where users have complained about their feeds being flooded with irrelevant political content or spam from specific foreign jurisdictions.
Objections
Despite the potential for reducing spam, privacy advocates and digital rights groups are likely to raise significant concerns. A primary objection is the risk of creating “national echo chambers,” where users isolate themselves from global perspectives, potentially reinforcing nationalism and xenophobia. There are also fears regarding the accuracy of the filtering; relying on IP addresses or account registration data can be circumvented by VPNs, potentially rendering the filter ineffective against sophisticated bad actors while penalizing legitimate users like expats or travelers. Furthermore, critics argue that this feature could be weaponized to silence dissent, allowing users to completely block out news and updates from conflict zones or countries experiencing humanitarian crises, thereby reducing the platform’s value as a “global town square.”
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