Meta takes down Russia and China-based influence networks
As per media reports, the fake accounts tried to interact like Americans and were discussing about domestic issues
The parent company of Facebook, Meta, recently took down unknown influencer accounts that were operating from Russia and China amid the US mid-term elections, media networks have reported. According to a Meta report, suspected accounts were posed by Americans on both sides of the political spectrum.
Bin Nimmo, Meta’s global threat intelligence lead, has been quoted as saying that the way Chinese accounts were targeting Americans was “very different and strange”. He mentioned that the fake accounts tried to interact like Americans and were discussing about domestic issues like abortion and Gun Control. According to the Meta spokesperson, the company has shared details of these Chinese accounts with the FBI.
On the other hand, the Russian campaign promoted pro-Kremlin narratives about the war in Ukraine.
Meta said that Chinese accounts primarily targeted audiences in the United States and the Czech Republic but posted during working hours in Beijing. China supported 80 Facebook accounts and had no following on the pages.
Meta did not attribute either campaign to specific entities within China or Russia, to the Chinese or Russian governments, instead saying only the accounts that were part of the campaigns were run out of the respective countries, media reports said.
