Social media platform X said it has suspended more than 13,000 accounts tied to three suspected foreign influence operations linked to Iran, Russia and China. Al Jazeera reported that the company announced the move on Wednesday as it outlined its measures for the November 3 US midterm elections.
X's Global Government Affairs account said the networks used inauthentic accounts to post and amplify content about US politics, targeting candidates and public figures across the political spectrum. The company said the accounts were identified through proactive sweeps and investigations under its rules against spam and coordinated inauthentic behaviour.
According to the EFE news agency, X did not say how many accounts were linked to each country, nor did it identify the operators or describe the reach of the operations. The company said its monitoring would continue through the campaign and after election day.
X also restated its election rules, which prohibit misleading information about how, when or where to vote, attempts to suppress turnout and voter intimidation, including calls for violence near polling stations. Users can report election-related posts through a civic integrity option to request a Community Note.
The announcement came a week after OpenAI said it had shut down two alleged influence operations from Russia and Iran that used ChatGPT to create fake journalist personas. X has acted against such networks before: in 2021, Twitter said it suspended 238 accounts allegedly operating from Iran.