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Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg
Facebook confirmed it has identified a coordinated political influence campaign believed to be working ahead of November’s midterm elections.
The social media company announced on Tuesday it had detected and removed 32 fake accounts and pages from both Facebook and Instagram, because the company detected “coordinated inauthentic behavior.”
Facebook said it has not been able to confirm Russia’s involvement, but company officials told the New York Times Russia may be involved. During the 2016 election, the Russian troll farm Internet Research agency was accused in an indictment of election interference.
“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,” Facebook wrote in a statement.
Just like during the 2016 elections, the fake accounts and pages seem to be focusing in on divisive issues. Facebook has found fake accounts that posted about hot-button social issues like abolishing ICE and an attempt to organize a second “Unite the Right” rally, according to the New York Times.
In its announcement, Facebook admitted it did not have all the facts on who was responsible for the effort, but the company decided to come forward given the connection between these efforts and protests planned for next week.
“…We are sharing what we know today given the connection between these bad actors and protests that are planned in Washington next week,” Facebook added.
–CNBC’s Julia Boorstin contributed to this report.
This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.
