X Removes 13,000 Accounts Tied to Suspected Foreign Influence Operations Before US Midterms

X says it has removed more than 13,000 accounts involved in three suspected foreign influence operations aimed at US political debate. In a post on Wednesday evening, the platform linked the operations to Iran, Russia and China. It said the networks used inauthentic accounts to post and amplify political content targeting candidates and public figures across the political spectrum. The announcement comes ahead of the US midterm elections on November 3. X did not publicly explain the evidence behind its attribution.

Separately, X highlighted its Civic Integrity policy, which covers misleading information about how, when and where to vote, as well as content intended to discourage participation. Reports under this policy are routed into requests for Community Notes, the platform's crowdsourced feature. X says it uses Community Notes alongside moderation and may label policy-breaking posts in critical cases. The feature has faced scrutiny: when the European Commission opened formal proceedings against X under the Digital Services Act in 2023, it raised questions about how effective Community Notes is at validating a post's accuracy. X's reliance on crowdsourced context also follows layoffs and senior departures from its moderation teams after Musk acquired Twitter.

Influence campaigns are not limited to US elections. MI5 chief Sir Ken McCallum said this week that Russia had attempted to interfere in the 2016 Brexit referendum, though he cautioned against treating that as evidence it changed the result.