Facebook Removed Accounts For 'Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior' Ahead of Midterms

Facebook identified and removed 32 fake accounts for engaging in “coordinated inauthentic behavior” ahead of the November U.S. midterm elections.

Facebook announced on July 31 that it has identified a new political influence campaign operating under dozens of inauthentic accounts on both Facebook and Instagram. The “bad actors” have been engaging in divisive rhetoric ahead of the November U.S. midterm elections by creating approximately 30 Facebook events and running roughly 150 ads for $11,000.
Some of the most notable include “Aztlan Warriors,” “Black Elevation,” and “Resisters.”

“We’re still in the very early stages of our investigation and don’t have all the facts — including who may be behind this,” said Facebook in a press statement. “But we are sharing what we know today given the connection between these bad actors and protests that are planned in Washington next week.”

The “Resisters” page created an event for a protest August 10 to 12 and enlisted support from real people to confront and resist fascism. Facebook has since deleted the event and began reaching out to approximately 3,200 users marked as “interested” or “attending” the fake event.

It’s still unclear which organization or country is behind and campaigns but Facebook believes Russia might be involved.