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They go by names like @TRUMP_ARMY or @MAGANationX, and their verified accounts proudly display portraits of President Donald Trump, voter rallies, and American flags. And theyre constantly posting about U.S. politics to their followers, sounding like diehard fans of the president. But after a weekend update to the social media platform X, its now clear that the owners of these accounts, and many others, are located in regions such as South Asia, Africa, and Eastern Europe. Elon Musks X unveiled a feature Saturday that lets users see where an account is based. Online sleuths and experts quickly found that many popular accounts posting in support of the MAGA movement to thousands or hundreds of thousands of followers are based outside the United Statesraising concerns about foreign influence on U.S. politics. Researchers at NewsGuard, a firm that tracks online misinformation, identified several popular accountspurportedly run by Americans interested in politicsthat instead were based in Eastern Europe, Asia, or Africa. The accounts were leading disseminators of some misleading and polarizing claims about U.S. politics, including ones that said Democrats bribed the moderators of a 2024 presidential debate. What is the location feature? Nikita Bier, X’s head of product, announced Saturday that the social media platform is rolling out an About This Account tool, which lets users see the country or region where an account is based. To find an account’s location, tap or click the signup date displayed on the profile. This is an important first step to securing the integrity of the global town square. We plan to provide many more ways for users to verify the authenticity of the content they see on X, Bier wrote. In countries with punitive speech restrictions, a privacy tool on X lets account holders only show their region rather than a specific country. So instead of India, for instance, an account can say it is based in South Asia. Bier said Sunday that after an update to the tool, it would 99.99% accurate, though this could not be independently verified. Accounts, for instance, can use a virtual private network, or VPN, to mask their true location. On some accounts, there’s a notice saying the location data may not be accurate, either because the account uses a VPN or because some internet providers use proxies automatically, without action by the user. Location data will always be something to use with caution,” said Alexios Mantzarlis, director of the Security, Trust, and Safety Initiative at Cornell Tech and a former director of the International Fact-Checking Network. “Its usefulness probably peaks now that it was just exposed, and bad actors will adapt. Meta has had similar information for a while and no one would suggest that misinformation has been eliminated from Facebook because of it. Which accounts are causing controversy? Some of the accounts supported slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk as well as President Donald Trumps children. Many of the accounts were adorned with U.S. flags or made comments suggesting they were American. An account called “@BarronTNews_,” for instance, is shown as being located in Eastern Europe (Non-EU),” even though the display location on its profile says Mar A Lago. The account, which has more than 580,000 followers, posted on Tuesday that This is a FAN account, 100 % independent, run by one guy who loves this country and supports President Trump with everything Ive got. NewsGuard also found evidence that some X users are spreading misinformation about the location feature itself, incorrectly accusing some accounts of being operated from abroad when theyre actually used by Americans. Investigators found several instances where one user created fake screenshots that appear to suggest an account was created overseas. It’s not always clear what the motives of the accounts. While some may be state actors, it’s likely that many are financially motivated, posting commentary, memes and videos to draw engagement. For the most visible accounts unmasked this week, money is probably the main motivator, Mantzarlis said. That doesnt mean that Xas documented extensively by prior work done by academic and nonprofit organizations that are being attacked and defundedisnt also a target for state actors. Users were divided over the new ability to see an accounts location information, with some questioning whether it went too far. Isnt this kind of an invasion of privacy? One X user wrote. No one needs to see this info. Barbara Ortutay, AP technology writer Associated Press Writer David Klepper contributed to this story.
Category:
E-Commerce
Landlords could no longer rely on rent-pricing software to quietly track each others moves and push rents higher using confidential data, under a settlement between RealPage Inc. and federal prosecutors to end what critics said was illegal algorithmic collusion. The deal announced Monday by the Department of Justice follows a yearlong federal antitrust lawsuit, launched during the Biden administration, against the Texas-based software company. RealPage would not have to pay any damages or admit any wrongdoing. The settlement must still be approved by a judge. RealPage software provides daily recommendations to help landlords and their employees nationwide price their available apartments. The landlords do not have to follow the suggestions, but critics argue that because the software has access to a vast trove of confidential data, it helps RealPages clients charge the highest possible rent. RealPage was replacing competition with coordination, and renters paid the price, said DOJ antitrust chief Gail Slater, who emphasized that the settlement avoided a costly, time-consuming trial. Under the terms of the proposed settlement, RealPage can no longer use that real-time data to determine price recommendations. Instead, the only nonpublic data that can be used to train the softwares algorithm must be at least one year old. What does this mean for you and your family?” Slater said in a video statement. “It means more real competition in local housing markets. It means rents set by the market, not by a secret algorithm.” RealPage attorney Stephen Weissman said the company is pleased the DOJ worked with them to settle the matter. There has been a great deal of misinformation about how RealPages software works and the value it provides for both housing providers and renters,” Weissman said in a statement. “We believe that RealPages historical use of aggregated and anonymized nonpublic data, which include rents that are typically lower than advertised rents, has led to lower rents, less vacancies, and more procompetitive effects. However, the deal was slammed by some observers as a missed opportunity to clamp down on alleged algorithmic price-fixing throughout the economy. This case really was the tip of the spear,” said Lee Hepner, senior legal counsel for the American Economic Liberties Project, whose group advocates for government action against business concentration. He said the settlement is rife with loopholes and he believes RealPages can keep influencing the rental market even if they can only use public, rather than private, data. He also decried how RealPages does not have to pay any damages, unlike many companies that have paid millions in penalties over their use of the software. Over the past few months, more than two dozen property management companies have reached various settlements over their use of RealPage, including Greystar, the nation’s largest landlord, which agreed to pay $50 million to settle a class action lawsuit, and $7 million to settle a separate lawsuit filed by nine states. The governors of California and New York signed laws last month to crack down on rent-setting software, and a growing list of cities, including Philadelphia and Seattle, have passed ordinances against the practice. Ten states California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington had joined the DOJ’s antitrust lawsuit. Those states were not part of Mondays settlement, meaning they can continue to pursue the case in court. R.J. Rico, Associated Press
Category:
E-Commerce
At Fleece & Harmony, a woolen mill and yarn shop in bucolic Belfast, Prince Edward Island, in Canada, owner Kim Doherty used to be able to send yarn skeins to U.S. customers across the border with little fanfare.The yarn orders usually met an import tax exemption for packages valued at under $800, meaning it could be imported tariff-free and avoid the customs process.But ever since the Trump administration eliminated the exemption as of Aug. 29, the cost to send yarn to U.S. customers has skyrocketed. The bill for a $21 ball of yarn now includes $12 to $15 in brokerage fees that her shipper UPS charges, plus state taxes and a 6.5% tariff, all of which almost doubles her costs.“We had orders that have reached the customers and they’re in shock about the fact that they have to pay,” she said. “And it’s amazing how many people really didn’t know what the impact was going to be.”Getting rid of the so-called de minimis exemption was meant to curb drug trafficking and stop low-quality goods from discount sellers like Temu and Shein flooding the U.S. market.But as the all-important annual holiday shopping season kicks off, it is putting a crimp on small businesses and shoppers now facing higher costs.Chad Lundquist in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, ordered fragrance oil from a site called Oil Perfumery in October, but he didn’t realize the business was based in Toronto, Canada. His total was $35.75, which included an $8 standard shipping fee. But when his package arrived, he was hit with a $10.80 tariff bill from FedEx.“It wasn’t worth the $10 tariff for a $27 purchase,” Lundquist said. Oil Perfumery did not respond to a request for comment.He’s not the only skittish shopper. Three months after the exemption ended, sellers abroad are reporting drastic declines in U.S. sales. Some are paying the duties themselves instead of passing them to consumers. They are also trying to focus on domestic customers to replace U.S. ones and adjusting product lineups to feature best selling items to try to goose sales.Martha Keith, founder of British stationery brand Martha Brook, which is based in London with a small office in Melbourne, Australia, said U.S. sales from her Etsy store her main e-commerce channel in addition to her own website were up 50% for the year before the exemption ended. But sales fell dramatically when the tariffs hit, and continue to drop even though she’s paying the import taxes and customs fees herself so customers aren’t impacted. Sales are down about 30% year-over-year.“The issue seems to be in customer confidence hitting the desire to order from businesses outside of the U.S., because of confusion about how the tariffs will affect them,” Keith said.She’s also in a bind because she sold a 109 ($144) stationery advent calendar to about 200 U.S. customers ahead of the tariffs, and now she has to ship them. Shipping and tariffs will cost a combined 25 ($33), meaning Keith will have to find an additional 5,000 ($6,583) to cover shipping the advent calendars already sold.“The whole thing has been a bit of a nightmare for businesses like ours, and such a huge shame, as the U.S. market was such a valuable growth area for us, particularly through Etsy,” she said.The timing was particularly bad for Sue Bacarro, who along with her sister co-owns Digi Wildflowers, an Etsy shop that sells embroidered baby blankets, gifts and custom quilts for wedding and anniversaries, located across the border from Detroit in Windsor, Ontario.Before the announcement of the removal of the de minimis exemption, they placed a large inventory order to prepare for the holiday season and early 2026 demand. But when the de minimis exemption ended, “inventory wasn’t moving as expected, and we suspected customers were hesitant to purchase due to potential duty charges,” Bacarro said.Sales 70% of which come from Americans finally started to rebound when Digi Wildflowers prominently added a banner on its site that said, “U.S. Import Duties On Us.”“Heading into this holiday season, we’re keeping that message front and center through banners, social media, and direct communication,” said Bacarro, who is also expanding their product line.But not all businesses can or want to pick up the tariff tab.Kim Doherty, who runs the woolen mill on Prince Edward Island, doesn’t plan to pay the tariff and fees for her customers.“I’m not in a position as a small business owner to do that. The profit margins are already rather thin,” said Doherty, adding that “on principle,” she shouldn’t have to do it.Right now, her shipments to U.S. customers are about 10% of what they were. Instead, she’s working on expanding her fiber offerings to Canadian customers at her brick-and-mortar store and fiber festivals.“We’ll see what happens,” she said. “I’m pretty sure that my U.S. customers were shopping and not even thinking about it, but now they’ll be evaluating the purchases that they’re making, knowing that they are going to have the extra fees on top of whatever they see.”Some Etsy businesses have been stymied by international postal services temporarily halting deliveries to the U.S. because of the confusion around the ending of de minimis.Selene Pierangelini’s business, Apricot Rain Creations, based in Brisbane, Australia, which sells crystals, candles, and spiritual wellness products on Etsy, depended on the Australia Post to get deliveries to U.S. customers. More than three-fourths of her customer base comes from the U.S. Australia Post suspended service to the U.S. for about a month, resuming on Sept. 22.She temporarily switched to FedEx and UPS private shippers that are more expensive than Australia Post. Since it resumed, Australia Post is working with Zonos, a provider of cross-border shipping technology, to offer a shipping calculator that lets her prepay duties and fees. They themselves charge a fee of $1.69 plus 10% of the total duty fee.So far, the items she ships from Australia have been tariffed at a 10% rate, the baseline tariff for the country. She increased her shipping costs to help cover the expense. It is manageable, but tricky, she said.“You don’t really know how much (the cost) is going to be until the package clears custom in the U.S., and you get an invoice which is automatically paid out of your account,” she said.And her sales have not recovered. Before the tariffs, her U.S. sales were about 85% of her total sales, and now they’re around 35%. She’s hopeful people are just holding off until Black Friday and Cyber Monday holiday sales.In the meantime, she has restarted sales to Europe, which she had paused in 2024 due to increased regulations. And she’s launched a Facebook marketing campaign and is exploring print-on-demand services from U.S.-based providers for production and fulfillment.“This situation highlights how fragile small businesses can be when dependent on one market,” Pierangelini said. “While it has been a shock, it’s also pushed me to diversify something that will hopefully make my business stronger and more resilient in the long run.” Mae Anderson, AP Business Writer
Category:
E-Commerce
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