Facebook removes 2,632 pages, groups, accounts for 'coordinated inauthentic behaviour'

"Today we removed 2,632 Pages, Groups and accounts that engaged in coordinated inauthentic behaviour on Facebook and Instagram. The operations we found were connected to Iran, Russia, [North] Macedonia and Kosovo. We didn't find any links between these sets of activities, but they used similar tactics by creating networks of accounts to mislead others about who they were and what they were doing," Facebook said in a statement.

According to Facebook, 513 pages, groups and accounts were linked to Iran-affiliated networks and operated in a whole number of countries or regions, including Egypt, India, Israel, the Kashmir region and the Middle East, among others.

"They posted news stories on current events and frequently re-purposed and amplified content from Iranian state media about topics including sanctions against Iran; tensions between India and Pakistan; conflicts in Syria and Yemen; terrorism; tensions between Israel and Palestine; Islamic religious issues; Indian politics; and the recent crisis in Venezuela," Facebook added.

Another 1,907 pages, groups and accounts were linked to Russia and were mostly responsible for posting spam content, including that related to the conflict in the east of Ukraine, Crimea and corruption.

"Finally, we removed 212 Facebook Pages, Groups and accounts for engaging in coordinated inauthentic behavior that originated in [North] Macedonia and Kosovo. The individuals behind this activity operated fake accounts to administer Pages sharing general, non-country specific content like astrology, celebrities and beauty tips," the social network indicated.

Facebook added that these removed pages, groups and accounts had also made posts on political and religious issues, claiming to represent political communities in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

"While we are making progress rooting out this abuse, as we’ve said before, it’s an ongoing challenge because the people responsible are determined and well-funded. We constantly have to improve to stay ahead. That means building better technology, hiring more people and working more closely with law enforcement, security experts and other companies. Their collaboration was critical to these investigations." the statement added.