Facebook removed 32 pages and accounts from the social platform and Instagram, including some with partisan political themes, for engaging in “coordinated inauthentic behavior.”
Facebook declined on Tuesday to attribute the activity to a single group or entity, including the Russia-based Internet Research Agency that conducted similar, coordinated campaigns on the platform in advance of the 2016 elections. The company noted that some of the activity is similar to the Kremlin-linked propaganda group’s prior efforts, but said the evidence is not strong enough to provide public attribution.
“It’s clear that whoever set up these accounts went to much greater lengths to obscure their true identities than the Russian-based Internet Research Agency (IRA) has in the past,” the company wrote in a blog post. “We believe this could be partly due to changes we’ve made over the last year to make this kind of abuse much harder.”
The announcement was all the proof that some lawmakers needed to call out Russia, however. The activity shows that “the Kremlin continues to exploit platforms like Facebook to sow division and spread disinformation,” said Sen. Mark Warner of Virgina, the top Democrat on the chamber’s intelligence panel.
“I am glad that Facebook is taking some steps to pinpoint and address this activity,” he added in a statement. “I also expect Facebook, along with other platform companies, will continue to identify Russian troll activity and to work with Congress on updating our laws to better protect our democracy in the future.”
Facebook and rival platforms like Twitter and YouTube are under a spotlight with U.S. elections a little more than three months away. The three are monitoring their services closely to prevent false articles and posts like those used to sway — and inflame — voters in the campaign where President Trump won an unexpected victory against Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Among the accounts suspended by Facebook was a page titled “Resisters,” which the company said was inviting real individuals to protest a separate August event in Washington, D.C., titled “Unite the Right,” a follow-up to the white nationalist rally last year in Chartlottesville, Va.
Another account by the name of “Aztlan Warriors” posted an image with the caption “Giving Thanks, To Our Vets In The 500 Year War Against Colonialism,” citing historical figures such as Crazy Horse, the Native American warrior who resisted U.S. settlements on tribal lands, and Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata.
Facebook said the accounts paid $11,000 in U.S. and Canadian currency to purchase 150 ads, dating as far back as April 2017.
Several of the posts were critical of President Trump, including one from the “Resisters” account that advertised an event coordinator position at reSisters, a group described as being formed in the wake of Trump’s victory in 2016.
“We recognize that Trump regime is illegitimate and must be stopped,” the post reads.
