Facebook has closed more than 100 accounts possibly related to mid-term interference



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Facebook has removed more than 100 accounts that, in his view, may have been involved in a "coordinated unauthorized behavior" ahead of Tuesday's midterm elections.

Nathaniel Gleicher, head of cybersecurity policy for the social media giant, said in a statement on Monday that law enforcement had contacted the company on Sunday about foreign-related activities. Since then, Facebook has identified and removed 30 Facebook accounts and 85 Instagram accounts.

Almost all Facebook pages were in French or Russian, Gleicher added, while Instagram accounts were mostly in English and focused on celebrity content or political debate.

"In general, we would be more advanced in our analysis before announcing anything publicly," he said. "But since we are only one day in the United States, we wanted to inform people of the measures we have taken and the facts as we know them today."

Facebook had removed 82 pages related to Iran at the end of last month for the same reason. Presenting more details, the company said groups and accounts were in the form of US or UK citizens, posting content on divisive topics, such as race relations and immigration. In August, 652 additional pages also related to Iran were removed.

The fight against foreign disinformation has been raging since efforts to influence various elections around the world, including the 2016 presidential election, have been revealed.

Facebook has since tried to suppress infamous foreign actors. In September, Facebook set up a "war room" in its California headquarters, dedicated to eliminating misinformation related to the interim period.

"We see this as probably the biggest reorientation of the business since we moved from desktops to mobile phones," said Samidh Chakrabarti, Elections and Civic Engagement Manager at Facebook, New York. Times.

Last month, the company announced its intention to ban false information regarding voting conditions and false reports of violence or long queues at polling stations.

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