X purges 13,000 accounts linked to suspected meddling ahead of US midterms

X says it has nuked more than 13,000 accounts involved in three suspected foreign influence operations targeting 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. "People come to X to talk about what's happening in the world, including the upcoming 2026 US midterms," the platform said. "Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and we are proud that X is the global town square where these debates happen. Our job is to keep that conversation authentic, open, and safe." X did not publicly explain the evidence behind its attribution. Separately, it 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 submitted under "Civic Integrity" are routed into requests for Community Notes. X says it uses the crowdsourced feature alongside platform moderation and may label policy-breaking posts in critical cases. Community Notes has faced scrutiny. When the European Commission launched formal proceedings against X under the Digital Services Act in 2023, it raised questions about the feature's effectiveness for validating a post's accuracy. X's reliance on crowdsourced context follows layoffs and senior departures from its moderation teams after Musk acquired Twitter. Foreign influence campaigns aren't confined to US elections. MI5 chief Sir Ken McCallum said this week that Russia had attempted to interfere in the 2016 Brexit referendum, but cautioned against treating that as evidence it changed the result. (R)