Facebook has already removed four campaigns by Russia and Iran spreading misinformation and divisive content on social media, the social media giant revealed Monday.
Facebook said the networks on Facebook and Instagram, three of which originated in Iran and one linked back to Russia, targeted the U.S., North Africa and Latin America, and attempted to interfere in the 2020 election.
The company revealed the latest disinformation campaigns alongside new efforts to combat foreign interference in elections. Facebook’s initiatives come nearly a year before U.S. voters will head to the polls in the 2020 presidential election and as the race ramps up.
Facebook said the activity tied to Iran and Russia focusing on the U.S. targeted a range of hot-button issues, including politics in the U.S. and Israel, LGBTQ issues, and racial tensions. Posts mentioned Vice President Joe Biden, President Trump, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
One of the campaigns linked back to Iran steered audiences to a page called BLMNews, a phony news entity that posted on topics like the Black Lives Matter movement and Iranian foreign policy.
Some of the activity traced back to Russia had ties to the Internet Research Agency, a St. Petersburg-based troll farm involved in Russia’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election by spreading misinformation on social media.
Facebook took down 50 Instagram accounts and one Facebook account that focused mainly on the U.S. and originated in Russia.
The people behind the campaign started fake accounts, some of which were detected by Facebook’s automated systems, and posed as residents of swing states on both sides of the aisle, Facebook said.
The Russia-linked accounts had roughly 246,000 followers, 60% of which were U.S.-based.
In preparation for the 2020 presidential election, Facebook rolled out new measures designed to increase transparency and root out misinformation and fake accounts on the platform. The company faced a torrent of criticism following the 2016 election for not doing more to identify Russia’s influence campaigns and stop the spread of disinformation and has since taken steps to protect elections worldwide from interference.
The tech behemoth will now label state-controlled media on their pages and in its ad library, through which users can browse the advertisements running on the site and who is paying for them. Facebook worked with a number of organizations, including UNESCO, Reporters Without Borders, and the Center for International Media Assistance, to come up with the definition of and standards for state-run media.
Facebook is also banning paid ads that discourage voting and will provide more clarity on fact-checking labels and, for elected officials and political candidates, launched Facebook Protect, a security program to protect against malicious activity.
“We have a responsibility to stop abuse and election interference on our platform,” the company said in a blog post. “That’s why we’ve made significant investments since 2016 to better identify new threats, close vulnerabilities and reduce the spread of viral misinformation and fake accounts.”
