New York (AFP)
Facebook, which seeks to strengthen the fight against attempted manipulation on its various platforms, announced Wednesday that it has blocked three new campaigns aimed at influencing public opinion, including one linked to the Russian intelligence services.
"We are constantly working to detect and stop this type of activity because we don't want our services to be used to manipulate people," said Nathaniel Gleicher, cybersecurity manager at Facebook, in a blog post. "We are making progress in eliminating this kind of abuse, but as we have said before, it is an ongoing challenge."
The social network has deleted dozens of accounts, pages and groups on Facebook and Instagram, not especially because of their content but because of the way they functioned and coordinated to mislead their readers about their identity and their objectives. .
The first operation was orchestrated from Russia with 78 accounts, 11 pages and 29 groups on Facebook, as well as 4 accounts on Instagram - owned by Facebook - and mainly targeted Ukraine and neighboring countries.
"Some of these accounts presented themselves as citizen journalists and tried to contact decision-makers, journalists and other public figures in the region," said the company. According to his investigation, they were linked to the Russian intelligence services.
The second operation was organized from Iran and focused on the United States with 6 Facebook accounts and 5 on Instagram.
They shared articles on political news and geopolitics, including topics such as the elections in the United States, Christianity, American-Iranian relations or American immigration policy.
The third network worked from Vietnam and Burma and targeted the Burmese population with 13 accounts and 10 Facebook pages. They mainly criticized two telecom operators and were linked, according to Facebook, to two competitors and to a public relations company.
© 2020 AFP