X removes 13,000 accounts tied to suspected Iran, Russia and China influence campaigns

X takes down three suspected networks

X said on Wednesday that it has removed more than 13,000 accounts connected to three suspected foreign influence operations that targeted political debate in the United States, according to The Register. The company attributed the operations to Iran, Russia and China, and said the networks relied on inauthentic accounts to post and amplify political content aimed at candidates and public figures across the political spectrum.

The announcement lands weeks before the US midterm elections on November 3. In its statement, X framed the removals as a defence of open political discussion, arguing that free speech underpins a functioning democracy and describing its role as keeping that conversation "authentic, open, and safe."

Attribution offered without public evidence

The Register reports that X did not publicly explain the evidence behind its attribution to the three countries. Takedowns of state-linked networks are usually accompanied by technical detail, and the absence of any here means the public is being asked to take X's word for the country-level claims. For researchers, journalists and regulators, there is currently no way to independently verify how the networks were identified or whether the labelling is accurate — a meaningful gap given that attribution of influence operations is among the harder problems in platform trust and safety.

A moderation model built on Community Notes

Alongside the removals, X highlighted its Civic Integrity policy, which covers misleading information about how, when and where to vote, as well as content designed to discourage participation. Reports submitted under that policy are passed to Community Notes, the platform's crowdsourced annotation feature, which X says it uses in combination with its own moderation. In the most serious cases, the company may attach labels to posts that break its rules.

This reliance on crowdsourced context has drawn scrutiny before. 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 the accuracy of posts. The approach also follows a period of reduced internal capacity: after Elon Musk acquired Twitter, the platform's moderation teams experienced layoffs and departures of senior staff, as The Register notes.

Interference concerns extend beyond US elections

The Register also points out that suspected foreign interference is not confined to American campaigns. MI5 chief Sir Ken McCallum said this week that Russia had attempted to interfere in the 2016 Brexit referendum, though he cautioned that this should not be treated as evidence the outcome was changed.

Why it matters

The removal of more than 13,000 accounts is one of the larger platform security actions of this election cycle, and its timing weeks before the midterms signals that X treats foreign meddling as a live threat. But with no published evidence supporting the Iran, Russia and China attributions, the claims rest entirely on the platform's own credibility — a notable position for a company whose moderation practices are already under formal regulatory examination in the EU. The bigger structural question is capacity: X is leaning on Community Notes and a Civic Integrity reporting pipeline at the same moment its internal trust-and-safety staffing is thinner than it once was. How that combination performs during a high-stakes US campaign period, under watchful European regulators, will be a real test of the crowdsourced moderation model.