Facebook Says It Removed Six Domestic Networks of Fake Accounts
- April report shows misinformation strategies leverage Covid-19
- Social network took down U.S. groups related to QAnon, VDARE
Facebook Inc. said domestic groups are copying the misinformation strategies Russia used ahead of the 2016 election, cultivating networks of fake accounts to amplify their messages on social media.
In April, six of the eight networks Facebook removed for coordinated inauthentic posts targeted domestic audiences in the U.S., Mauritania, Myanmar and the country of Georgia, the social network said in a blog post on Tuesday. Two of the networks were in the U.S.: one set of pages and accounts associated with the fringe conspiracy group QAnon, and another with VDARE, a website known for posting anti-immigrant content. It’s Facebook’s first action against QAnon, the group that believes there is a “deep state” conspiracy against President Donald Trump.