Facebook recently said it had discovered and “disrupted” a network of accounts used by Russian military intelligence to spread false information about Ukraine and other Eastern European countries online .According to Facebook, while the people behind the network tried to hide their identities and businesses, its investigation uncovered an operation by Russian military intelligence to gather intelligence on opposing sides. Facebook, which has made significant efforts to stop governments and political groups using its platform to spread false or misleading information, said it had “mitigated” disinformation campaigns from countries like Russia.
The Russian Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to the allegations. Moscow has previously denied US of political involvement, including findings by US Special Counsel Robert Muellerthat it used social media accounts to influence the 2016 US presidential election.
The head of cybersecurity policy, Nathaniel Gleicher, said the latest Russian operation used more than 100 Facebook and Instagram to create fake profiles, often posing as journalists in the targeted countries. The accounts communicated with the media and politicians in the targeted countries to “sow” discord on political issues and spread false and inaccurate information. Among the inaccurate information were false allegations of corruption, ethnic tensions in the Crimean peninsula annexed by Russia , and the 2014 crash of a Malaysian airliner in Ukraine.
Gleicher told Reuters that they had known about the Russian operation for some time, which operated mainly between 2016 and 2017, and there were some indications of its existence until today. It was primarily aimed at gathering information, while also trying to “hit” influential figures in a country to achieve a high impact. However, this network managed to gather a few followers, while also publishing articles in local media.
In addition, the “fake” journalists conducted interviews with Kremlin critics, tricking them into making candid comments, which they later unknowingly shared on the Internet.
Finally, Facebook said it had suspended two other networks of accounts that had no connection to the Russian operation. One involved an Iranian network that had targeted the US and the other involved a PR operation in Vietnam.
