The social network Facebook has removed a network of fake accounts that were linked to Russian operatives.
These operatives recruited American journalists, who were tasked with writing articles targeting left-leaning readers on topics such as racial justice, the Biden-Harris campaign, and President Donald Trump's policies, it writes.Washington Post".
Facebook said the network was in the early stages of building its audience and had 13 fake accounts and two pages, a sign of increasing effectiveness in targeting foreign disinformation operations ahead of this year's US elections.
These actions were initiated as a result of an FBI report, which are among many operations related to the Russian Internet research agency or individuals associated with it.
Facebook announced that Russian operatives had created fictional personas in order to attract people to a new page called “Data Peace.” The page described itself as a “global news organization,” saying its goal was to uncover global issues and raise awareness about corruption, the environmental crisis, abuse of power, armed conflict, activism, and human rights.
An article about the militant right-wing movement known as the "Bulgarian movement" was titled "The number of far-rightists in the United States is growing thanks to President Trump," according to a report submitted by Facebook.
Throughout 2016, Russian operatives affiliated with the Internet Research Agency had been running disinformation campaigns on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, amassing a large audience with content that sought to sow discord among American voters.
Web analytics company Graphika on Tuesday (September 1) obtained data from Facebook and found that the Russian effort was small but similar to past attempts to undermine the Democratic candidate's support by reaching out to left-leaning American voters.