NEW YORK — Facebook says it has uncovered “sophisticated” efforts, possibly linked to Russia, to influence US politics on its platforms.
The company says it removed 32 accounts from Facebook and Instagram because they were involved in “coordinated” behavior and appeared to be fake.
The company says it doesn’t know who is behind the efforts, but said there are may be connections to Russia. Facebook says it has found some connections between the accounts it removed and the accounts connected to Russia’s Internet Research Agency that it removed before and after the 2016 US presidential elections.
The earliest page was created in March 2017. Facebook says more than 290,000 accounts followed at least one of the fake pages. The most followed Facebook Pages were “Aztlan Warriors,” ”Black Elevation,” ”Mindful Being,” and “Resisters.”
— AP
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