Facebook on Monday announced that it had shut down multiple Iranian and Russian disinformation campaigns targeting users via hundreds of fraudulent Facebook accounts, pages and groups as well as several popular Instagram accounts.
Three of the four networks engaging in “coordinated inauthentic behavior” were linked to Iran, while the fourth was associated with Russia. The Iranian networks targeted over 90,000 followers on Facebook and Instagram with content related to US politics, the Yemeni civil war, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the conflict between Iran and Saudi-Arabia. The Russian network was part of a sophisticated campaign aimed at influencing US public opinion with content relating to American politics and society. The Instagram accounts making up this network had almost 250,000 total followers.
Facebook said that the company has “a responsibility to stop abuse and election interference on our platform,” adding that it has “made significant investments since 2016 to better identify new threats, close vulnerabilities and reduce the spread of viral misinformation and fake accounts.”
Read more: Facebook promises action on 2020 US election fraud, wipes out fake networks from Russia, Iran
