Facebook announces removal of Iranian influence campaign as midterms near – CNET

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Facebook’s election war room hosts researchers who the company said Friday identified a coordinated influence campaign originating in Iran.

James Martin/CNET

Facebook took down 82 pages, accounts and groups it said are part of an influence campaign originating in Iran, the company announced in a blog post Friday. The accounts were posing as residents of the US and the UK and posting content about race relations, immigration and opposition to President Donald Trump.

“Despite attempts to hide their true identities, a manual review of these accounts linked their activity to Iran,” said Nathaniel Gleicher, Facebook’s head of cybersecurity policy, in the blog post.

It’s the latest in a series of account takedowns Facebook has announced. Facebook says the accounts are participating in  “coordinated inauthentic behavior,” which the company said misleads users and is not allowed on the platform. 

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