Facebook announced it removed 14 networks in October for coordinated inauthentic behavior, more than double the amount the company identified in August or September.
The report included seven new networks and seven that had been announced Oct. 27.
“Our teams continue to focus on finding and removing deceptive campaigns around the world — whether they are foreign or domestic,” Facebook wrote in its announcement. “In October, we removed 14 networks of accounts, Pages and Groups.”
Facebook announced the networks’ removal because of their relevance regarding international events. Two of the networks removed on Oct. 27 targeted the United States ahead of Election Day, and two targeted Myanmar, which will hold elections on Sunday. One other network announced Friday also targeted Myanmar.
“Eight of them — from Georgia, Myanmar, Ukraine and Azerbaijan — targeted domestic audiences in their own countries, and six networks — from Iran, Egypt, the US and Mexico — focused on people outside of their countries,” the announcement read.
Disrupting the networks involved removing more than 2,000 Facebook and Instagram accounts and nearly 8,000 Facebook pages.
Identifying and removing networks is the first step in disrupting misinformation networks, Facebook noted. The social media giant said its teams also “monitor for efforts to re-establish a presence on Facebook. … We continuously remove accounts and Pages connected to networks we took down in the past.”
“We’re committed to continually improving to stay ahead,” Facebook wrote. “That means building better technology, hiring more people and working closely with law enforcement, security experts and other companies.”
None of the newly reported networks targeted the U.S. Three networks were operating in and targeting countries in the Middle East, including Iran, Afghanistan, and Egypt. Thirty-one Facebook accounts were deactivated that were connected to the Muslim Brotherhood.
One network was connected to the Iranian government. Facebook found connections between these accounts and another operation removed in April, which Facebook linked to the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting.
Facebook said that most of these networks were caught early in their audience building.
In August, Facebook removed three coordinated inauthentic behavior networks. In September, the company removed six different networks. Those months, however, were outliers — October’s report is more in line with past trends.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Facebook for further comment.
