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Facebook Removes 82 Accounts Linked To Iranian Disinformation Campaign (usatoday.com) 54

Facebook said Friday that it removed 82 pages, groups, and accounts from Iran that tried to sow political discord in the U.S. and U.K. over the course of the last year. USA Today reports: The Facebook announcement, coming two weeks before the midterms, was a bracing reminder of the growing scale and frequency of disinformation operations threatening the United States on social media, some of it tied to foreign governments, even as Facebook adds thousands of new employees and strengthens technology to more quickly root out and take down disinformation campaigns.

The page administrators and account owners typically misrepresented themselves as U.S. citizens, or in a few cases U.K. citizens, to post on politically divisive subjects ripped from the headlines such as the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Last week Twitter disclosed more than 1 million tweets from the same operation.
The Iranian government has no ties to the accounts, but the investigation is still ongoing.
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Facebook Removes 82 Accounts Linked To Iranian Disinformation Campaign

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  • It should be clear by now that the growing divide in the US over the last decade has been caused by disinformation agents and bots from foreign countries on social media, and their collaborators in the US. If only people would get their news exclusively from the US corporate media like they did in the old days, everything would be fine.
    • of muckraking. I keep saying this but we lost a lot when guys like Gawker went away. Sure, they did a lot of awful tabloid journalism, but they also did a fair bit of the investigative stuff that the tabloids paid for.

      Somewhat hilariously one of the hardest hitting journalistic outlets today is Teen Vogue. It helps that they're a bit like the court jester in that nobody takes 'em that seriously so they can get away with stories that anywhere else would have the mega corps come down like a ton of bricks.
    • That's exactly right, if only CNN or the NY Times would report on the presence of a disinformation or propaganda campaign, people would believe it.

    • No it isn't! Where do you get this stuff? The divide has been growing since the 60's, specifically, because the left has become more and more radical, and ever more willing to toss the constitution, or at least only use it when it suits their purposes, and ignore it when it doesn't. The rule of law is the latest casualty, with US Congresspeople explicitly calling for harassment of anyone that disagrees with them, and the desire for completely unlimited and uncontrolled illegal immigration.

    • I still hope this is intended as over the top parody but these days I don't know anymore.
      'corporate media' is usually not indented as praise though.

  • by Anonymous Coward

    Of course, conservatives will claim that only conservative iranian accounts were removed...

  • Can anyone point me to any information that FB has meted similar action to any pages from the left?

    BTW, I long for the day we'll get a viable FB alternative. Available ones [fossbytes.com] are g r a s s i n g the last time I checked.

    • by Anonymous Coward

      Why don't you tell us who you're talking about? "The left" isn't a group really except in your AM radio feedback loop, sleepy traitor.

    • Your coming was foretold, well done fulfilling the prophecy. [slashdot.org]

    • It's clear that you didn't even look at the article. Look at the examples of posts made by the pages that were taken down and you'll have your answer.
  • When they remove anything linked to an Israeli misinformation campaign.

    Nobody in Washington fears "Russian trolls and bots".
    Everyone fears AIPAC.

    • by Anonymous Coward

      This discussion isn't about Israel, Jews, or AIPAC. It's about Facebook removing 82 Iranian disinformation linked accounts.

      If you have to take it all the way down to your racist base you should find a forum more welcoming to that.
      Like a Trump arena. Or a Florida van full of stickers.

      M

      • by WaffleMonster ( 969671 ) on Friday October 26, 2018 @10:35PM (#57543695)

        This discussion isn't about Israel, Jews, or AIPAC. It's about Facebook removing 82 Iranian disinformation linked accounts.

        For me it's about censorship and who gets hit by it and why. Individual players or countries of origin means nothing to me.

        https://www.jpost.com/Israel-N... [jpost.com]

        In the past we've seen some influence efforts full of factually incorrect and misleading information (re JCPOA) on behalf of a foreign power (Israel) without so much as a suggestion of media pushback against it.

        If you have to take it all the way down to your racist base you should find a forum more welcoming to that.

        Just remember Netanyahu would have Trump's children if he could.

  • With inauthentic behavior found and someone sure they are really detecting an effort to spread discord.
    What is next?
    No memes at all because of domestic political considerations? No blasphemy because ads? No funny art work? No links to funny political art work sites?

    No freedom of speech online to enjoy funny political art due to investigation and the demands of US and UK government officials?
    • but you have to make your agenda clear. If the gov't of Iran wants to campaign against Trump that's their prerogative. But if they want to lie and pretend they're Americans campaigning against Trump that's when they've crossed the line. The same is true for the Russians when they campaign for Trump.

      I'm clever enough to know that information is useless if you don't know it's source. But there's enough that aren't to swing elections. Democracy and Capitalism both only work when there's enough information
      • by AHuxley ( 892839 )
        Hows that feeling of US and UK government officials, US law enforcement, a think tank and social media censorship looking?
        Enjoying having a think tank, law enforcement and social media staff define what a funny meme is and if people will be allowed to get the joke?
        A government party political test for what art is and will art will be allowed to be?

        Is random funny political art not as funny if the internet don't know the "source"?

        Why should governments, law enforcement, party political social media and
  • > The Iranian government has no ties to the accounts

    Without the investigation being complete, HOW can they possibly already CLEAR
    the Iranian Government SO ABSOLUTELY?

    E

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