- Facebook removed dozens of accounts and Pages originating in Russia and Iran, the social media giant announced on Wednesday morning.
- The accounts and Pages were engaged in “coordinated inauthentic behaviour on behalf of a government or foreign actor,” Facebook head of security policy Nathaniel Gleicher wrote in a blog post.
- In the case of the Russian accounts and Pages that were banned, Facebook found digital footprints tracing back to Russian military intelligence services.
Facebook has removed dozens of accounts it said were engaging in “coordinated inauthentic behaviour on behalf of a government or foreign actor,” the company revealed on Wednesday morning.
Those accounts primarily originated in Russia, Facebook head of security policy Nathaniel Gleicher said, where the focus was on propaganda efforts in Ukraine.
“The Page admins and account owners typically posted content in Russian, English and Ukrainian about local and political news including public figures in Ukraine, Russian military engagement in Syria, alleged SBU leaks related to ethnic tensions in Crimea and the downing of the Malaysian airliner in Ukraine in 2014,” he said.
Moreover, Gleicher said Facebook traced back the activity to Russian military intelligence services.
Beyond the pages linked to Russia, 11 Facebook and Instagram accounts originating in Iran were shuttered. Unlike the Russian accounts, the ones tied to Iran were intended to sway American Facebook users.
“They shared posts about political news and geopolitics including topics like the US elections, Christianity, US-Iran relations, US immigration policy, criticism of US policies in the Middle East and public figures as well as video interviews with academics, public figures and columnists on issues related to Iran and US elections,” Gleicher said.
Read the article by Ben Gilbert in Business Insider Australia.