https://sputnikglobe.com/20220830/social-media-giants-shut-down-fake-accounts-using-deceptive-tactics-for-pro-us-influence-ops-1100148410.html
Social Media Giants Shut Down Fake Accounts Using 'Deceptive Tactics’ For ‘Pro-US Influence Ops'
Social Media Giants Shut Down Fake Accounts Using 'Deceptive Tactics’ For ‘Pro-US Influence Ops'
Sputnik International
Some of the suspended social media accounts were set up almost five years ago, employing tactics such as creating fake personas using artificially generated... 30.08.2022, Sputnik International
2022-08-30T06:58+0000
2022-08-30T06:58+0000
2023-04-14T13:01+0000
meta
us
facebook
x (formerly twitter)
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Twitter and Meta* have shut down dozens of accounts that have been linked to a covert pro-US propaganda campaign, according to researchers from social media analytics firm Graphika and the Stanford Internet Observatory (SIO).The overlapping web of accounts employed tactics such as creating fake personas using artificially generated images. Campaigns were reportedly run across multiple platforms to target audiences in the Middle East and Central Asia in foreign languages.The accounts set up on Twitter and Meta-owned social media platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and five others, were removed in July and August 2022, experts said in their report.The two tech giants said that the accounts were removed for violating their platforms’ terms of service. According to Twitter, they had violated its policies on “platform manipulation and spam.” Meta said the assets on its platforms engaged in “coordinated inauthentic behavior.” After taking down the accounts, the platforms provided portions of the activity to Graphika and the Stanford Internet Observatory for subsequent analysis.‘Influence Operations’“Deceptive tactics” were employed against users in the Middle East and Asia and amounted to “the most extensive case of covert pro-Western influence operations on social media to be reviewed and analyzed by open-source researchers to date.”There is no clarity yet as to who was behind the propaganda operation that disseminated pro-Western perspectives about international politics.Twitter has identified the US and the UK as the "presumptive countries of origin", the researchers stated. Meanwhile, Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, claimed that the US was "the country of origin". According to Meta, this was the first time it has removed a foreign-focused influence network promoting the United States.The report revealed that in line with a sophisticated scheme, some accounts set up more than five years ago targeted users in different regions using multiple languages. While some fake accounts tried to launch hashtag campaigns, others attempted to pose as independent media organizations.The researchers describe how one campaign targeting users in Central Asia praised US aid funneled ostensibly being funneled into the region, while denouncing Russia for allegedly engaging in "imperialist wars" across the African continent and in Syria.Furthermore, amid Moscow’s ongoing special military operation in Ukraine, the fake accounts blamed Russia for the alleged deaths of civilians in Ukraine – something that the Kremlin has repeatedly denied as propaganda launched by the Kiev regime and its allies in the West.Some accounts targeted users in Iran, criticizing the Iranian authorities and lack of women’s rights in the Islamic republic.According to Vice President of Intelligence at Graphika, Jack Stubbs, the overall effectiveness of the campaign was limited, and the majority of posts and tweets reviewed "received no more than a handful of likes or retweets".“The data shows the limitations of using inauthentic tactics to generate engagement and build influence online,” the researchers noted.Commenting on the report, Patrick Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said in a statement that the US Defence Department would “look into and assess any information that Facebook provides.*Activity of Meta (Facebook and Instagram) is banned in Russia over extremism.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20220823/twitter-whistleblower-accuses-social-media-giant-of-covering-up-extreme-security-deficiencies-1099907425.html
https://sputnikglobe.com/20220311/necessary-to-ban-facebook-instagram-if-they-allowed-calls-for-violence-against-russia---kremlin-1093772586.html
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Social Media Giants Shut Down Fake Accounts Using 'Deceptive Tactics’ For ‘Pro-US Influence Ops'
06:58 GMT 30.08.2022 (Updated: 13:01 GMT 14.04.2023) Some of the suspended social media accounts were set up almost five years ago, employing tactics such as creating fake personas using artificially generated images. Campaigns were reportedly run across multiple platforms to target audiences in the Middle East and Central Asia in multiple languages.
Twitter and Meta* have shut down dozens of accounts that have been linked to a covert pro-US propaganda campaign, according to
researchers from social media analytics firm Graphika and the Stanford Internet Observatory (SIO).
The overlapping web of accounts employed tactics such as creating fake personas using artificially generated images. Campaigns were reportedly run across multiple platforms to target audiences in the Middle East and Central Asia in foreign languages.
The accounts set up on Twitter and Meta-owned social media platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and five others, were removed in July and August 2022, experts said in their
report.
The two tech giants said that the accounts were removed for violating their platforms’ terms of service. According to Twitter, they had violated its policies on “platform manipulation and spam.” Meta said the assets on its platforms engaged in “coordinated inauthentic behavior.” After taking down the accounts, the platforms provided portions of the activity to Graphika and the Stanford Internet Observatory for subsequent analysis.
23 August 2022, 14:19 GMT
“Deceptive tactics” were employed against users in the Middle East and Asia and amounted to “the most extensive case of covert pro-Western influence operations on social media to be reviewed and analyzed by open-source researchers to date.”
There is no clarity yet as to who was behind the propaganda operation that disseminated pro-Western perspectives about international politics.
Twitter has identified the US and the UK as the "presumptive countries of origin", the researchers stated. Meanwhile, Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, claimed that the US was "the country of origin". According to Meta, this was the first time it has removed a foreign-focused influence network promoting the United States.
"We do not have the necessary information to attribute this activity to a single country or organization. What is clear, is that the activity is meant to further Western interests, including those of the US and allies," the SIO was cited by the BBC as saying.
The report revealed that in line with a sophisticated scheme, some accounts set up more than five years ago targeted users in different regions using multiple languages. While some fake accounts tried to launch hashtag campaigns, others attempted to pose as independent media organizations.
The researchers describe how one campaign targeting users in Central Asia praised US aid funneled ostensibly being funneled into the region, while denouncing Russia for allegedly engaging in "imperialist wars" across the African continent and in Syria.
Furthermore, amid Moscow’s ongoing
special military operation in Ukraine, the fake accounts blamed Russia for the alleged deaths of civilians in Ukraine – something that the Kremlin has repeatedly denied as propaganda launched by the Kiev regime and its allies in the West.
Some accounts targeted users in Iran, criticizing the Iranian authorities and lack of women’s rights in the Islamic republic.
According to Vice President of Intelligence at Graphika, Jack Stubbs, the overall effectiveness of the campaign was limited, and the majority of posts and tweets reviewed "received no more than a handful of likes or retweets".
“The data shows the limitations of using inauthentic tactics to generate engagement and build influence online,” the researchers noted.
Commenting on the report, Patrick Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said in a statement that the US Defence Department would “look into and assess any information that Facebook provides.
*Activity of Meta (Facebook and Instagram) is banned in Russia over extremism.
