Facebook Identifies New Political Influence Operation Ahead of Midterm Elections

Source: New York Times

SAN FRANCISCO -- Facebook said it had identified a new political influence campaign on its platform that appeared intended to disrupt the midterm elections, with the social network finding and taking down 652 fake accounts and pages that were trying to sow discord around social issues. Some of the accounts in the new influence campaign originated in Iran and Russia, Facebook said.

The campaign's scale exceeded that of another influence operation that Facebook revealed last month, in which the company said it detected and removed 32 pages and fake accounts that had engaged in activity around divisive social issues ahead of the midterms.

The revelations underscore how Facebook continues to be used as a weapon by others to try and influence the American electorate. After the 2016 presidential election, the company revealed that its site was used to spread divisive messages to voters on issues around race, gun control and the environment. The Internet Research Agency, a Kremlin-linked group, was at the center of an indictment this year alleging interference in the 2016 presidential election.

While Facebook has vowed to clamp down on such misuse, the social network said last month that it had detected and removed 32 pages and fake accounts that had engaged in activity around divisive social issues ahead of the midterms. One of those pages was joined by nearly 140,000 people, who believed they were fighting racism in the United States, while another set up dozens of events targeting left-wing activists.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/21/technology/facebook-political-influence-midterms.html