Facebook blocks 115 potentially false accounts on Election Eve after the federal government council

Facebook has blocked 115 accounts, according to federal authorities, which acted suspiciously and could be "linked to foreign entities" and coordinate their activities. The online giant has revealed this news in an article published Monday on his blog, the eve of the mid-term elections in the United States.

Nathaniel Gleicher, head of cybersecurity policy on Facebook, said: "On Sunday night, US law enforcement forces contacted us about newly discovered online activities related to foreign entities.

"Our very preliminary investigation has so far identified approximately 30 Facebook accounts and 85 Instagram accounts that may be engaged in unauthentically coordinated behavior, and we have immediately blocked these accounts and now examine them in more detail." Almost all associated Facebook pages these accounts seem to be in French or Russian, while Instagram accounts seem to have been mostly in English – some were celebrity-centric, others to political debate. "

Mr. Gleicher added that Facebook normally went further in its investigation of the accounts before publicly disclosing its steps, but wanted to spread the word quickly because the day of elections was close.

"Once we know more, including whether these accounts are linked to the Russian-based Internet Research Agency or to other foreign entities – we will update this message", did he concluded.

The Internet Research Agency is a Russian-based entity that is caught in the indictment of 13 Russian nationals and three companies indicted by special advocate Robert Mueller in February. The indictment accused them of violating US laws to interfere in the 2016 presidential elections. According to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, the defendants waged an information war against the states. -United. Twelve of the defendants have worked on various occasions for the Internet Research Agency.