Facebook has rolled up three different fake news networks, all of which were provided with messages from Russia. The social network reports this in one press release.
The networks collectively owned 214 Facebook user accounts, which managed 35 pages and 18 groups. There were also 34 Instagram accounts active.
The pages were followed by 8,500 people, while 9,500 people were active in the groups. The accounts were actively viewed by 7,500 people on Instagram.
The pages pretended to be news media, with links to articles on external websites. These pages mainly responded to current news, attempting to influence the mood.
It is unclear who initiated campaigns
This mainly happened in Syria, Ukraine, Turkey, Japan, the United Kingdom and Belarus. In the United States, the networks have also spread fake news, but to a lesser extent.
It is unclear who exactly initiated the fake news campaigns, but all activity on the accounts came from Russia. The country has previously been accused of spreading fake news, including in the US elections in 2017 and after the MH17 attack.
In recent weeks, as elections in the United States near the end of this year, social media has turned more and more against fake news
– .
:quality(80)/cdn-kiosk-api.telegraaf.nl/64cf3ffa-fffa-11ea-aaba-0217670beecd.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1)
