Facebook removes 'foreign interference' operations from Iran and Russia
By Olga Robinson and Shayan Sardarizadeh BBC Monitoring 14 February 2020Image copyright FACEBOOK Image caption Facebook said both operations acted "on behalf of a government or foreign actor"
Facebook has removed two separate networks of fake accounts originating in Iran and Russia, for "engaging in foreign or government interference".
The Russian operation, which Facebook linked to the country's military intelligence services, focused primarily on Ukraine and neighbouring countries.
The small Iranian operation used accounts and personas on Facebook and Instagram to post content about US politics and the 2020 presidential election.
Both operations attempted to directly contact politicians, public figures and journalists, a tactic used by several other information operations in the past.
Nathaniel Gleicher, head of Facebook's security policy, said in a blog post that both operations were removed for violating the company's "coordinated inauthentic behaviour" policy, not their content.
The social network defines the policy as "when groups of pages or people work together to mislead others about who they are or what they are doing".
'Intelligence operation'
The Russian network used dozens of fake personas to post pro-Kremlin and anti-Western messages on Facebook, Twitter, blogs and news websites.
It focused primarily on Ukraine, but some of Russia's neighbouring countries, such as Moldova, the Baltic states and Turkey, were also targeted. A few accounts also focused on Germany and the UK, but "left little trace of online activity", facebook removes foreign interference operations
