Thursday 23 August 2018

Facebook thwarts misinformation effort linked to Iran, Russia

SAN FRANCISCO: 
Facebook
 announced it identified stealth misinformation campaigns from Russia and Iran and shut down hundreds of accounts as part of its battle against manipulation of its platform, prompting a fresh denial from Moscow on Wednesday.
 The social network said late Tuesday that it removed more than 650 pages, groups and accounts identified as 
Separately, Twitter said it suspended 284 accounts "for engaging in coordinated manipulation," adding that "it appears many of these accounts originated from Iran."

"As with prior investigations, we are committed to engaging with other companies and relevant law enforcement entities," Twitter said.

For Facebook, it was the second time in less than a month that it acted against manipulation, following the shutdown in late July of 32 fake pages and accounts involved in an apparent 
coordinated" effort to stoke hot-button issues ahead of November midterm US elections.

The social network giant said content from some of the pages shut down in the latest move was traced back to Iran, while others were tied to groups previously linked to Russian intelligence operations.

No comments: