Security News > 2022 > September > Facebook Shuts Down Covert Political 'Influence Operations' from Russia and China

Meta Platforms on Tuesday disclosed it took steps to dismantle two covert influence operations originating from China and Russia for engaging in coordinated inauthentic behavior so as to manipulate public debate.

The sophisticated Russian activity, which commenced in May 2022, impersonated mainstream European news outlets like Der Spiegel, The Guardian, and Bild, not to mention build credibility by creating fake accounts across several platforms to amplify pro-Russian narratives.

In some instances, the content was propagated by Russian embassy accounts.

As many as 1,633 accounts, 703 Pages, one Group on Facebook and 29 accounts on Instagram were put to use to spread the propaganda, with the actors spending roughly $105,000 in ads to promote the articles via the two social media services.

It consisted of 81 Facebook accounts, eight Pages, one Group and two accounts on Instagram.

Meta did not disclose any evidence to attribute the fraudulent accounts to specific individuals or threat actors within the countries.

News URL

https://thehackernews.com/2022/09/facebook-shuts-down-covert-political.html