The Moldovan election invites Facebook to delete its accounts

Facebook said it had removed more than 200 "unauthentic" accounts intended for Moldovans, some of which were linked to government employees.

The Moldovans go to the polls on February 24 as part of a new electoral system.

One of the poorest countries in Europe, it is politically divided between pro-Western and pro-Russian factions.

Facebook said the accounts published on conflicting political issues, shared manipulated photos, and imitated a local verification organization.

He said 168 accounts, 28 pages and eight Instagram users had been removed. But contrary to allegations of electoral interference in the United States, the activity came from Moldova, the newspaper added.

"Although those responsible for this activity tried to conceal their identities, our manual review revealed that part of this activity was linked to Moldovan government employees," the social network said in a statement.

Why is Facebook suddenly interested in Moldova?

The upcoming parliamentary elections in Moldova have already given rise to much controversy.

The country is sandwiched between the European Union and Ukraine. His government has adopted a pro-European stance in recent years, while its president has been elected on a pro-Russian platform.

The two sides do not agree, as President Igor Dodon has been repeatedly suspended for refusing to sign laws pbaded by Parliament.

In the run-up to elections, the country's National Electoral Commission told him not to show public support for his own party, the Socialists, saying the president should remain impartial.

In turn, Mr. Dodon characterized this decision as "unlawful and baseless" and went to court about it.

And the new electoral system – half of the 101 deputies will be elected on party lists, the other half in single-member constituencies – will favor major established parties, according to critics.

At a time when relations between the West and Russia are strained, foreign powers have also warned against the vote of Moldova.

The US ambbadador delivered a speech calling on Moldovans to "choose a bright, prosperous and democratic path".

Russia accused the United States of interfering in the elections, saying the locals are "threatened with breaking ties with the West".

This echoes the accusations of the liberal party, which claims that the president's pro-Russian stance "makes the citizens sing while saying that the Moldovans will only have good relations with Russia when they vote for the Socialists." ".

Why does Facebook target misinformation?

Following the 2016 US presidential election, it appeared that fake foreign accounts were intended to spread misinformation about social media.

Despite the lack of evidence indicating that this had influenced the outcome, Facebook has found itself under pressure to fight the spread of online political messages from people who may not be what it is. they seem to be.

Facebook called this inauthentic behavior coordinated: "when groups or pages or people work together to mislead others about who they are or what they do."

"When we remove one of these networks, it's because of their misleading behavior – it's not because of the content they share," the company said.

In Moldova, the administrators of the page have published articles on local news and political issues, including sensitive topics such as the possibility of compulsory education of Russian or English or the idea of ​​reunification with Romania.

About 54,000 people have followed at least one of the pages, said Facebook.

"We are constantly working to detect and stop this type of activity because we do not want our services to be used to manipulate people," said Facebook.

In recent months, it has taken similar measures in Indonesia, Iran and Russia and banned violent or military groups in Myanmar.