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Updated September 28th, 2022 at 20:31 IST

Meta takes down Russia & China-based disinformation networks on Facebook and Instagram

Meta published a report detailing propaganda operations by China and Russia across their social media platforms as it terminated the Russian and Chinese grids.

Reported by: Yuvraj Tyagi
Meta
Image: AP | Image:self
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The parent company of Facebook and Instagram, Meta has targeted both China and Russia-based ‘influence campaign’ across its social media platforms. The company owned by Mark Zuckerberg announced on September 27, that it has terminated a China-based influence campaign targeting users from the US with political content ahead of November's mid-term elections.

The company further purged a Russia-based disinformation grid that sought to spread Kremlin propaganda about the invasion of Ukraine via numerous fake social media accounts and dozens of inauthentic news websites.

China’s propaganda operations on Meta platforms

In a report published by Meta, the company claimed that the Chinese group maintained bogus profiles across its social media platforms, Instagram and Facebook. The report further revealed that the Chinese group had a presence on the competing site Twitter, although it was minimal and did not garner a large following, reported BBC.

However, the result of the investigation by Meta indicates that the disclosure of this Chinese network on the company’s platforms was important because it signalled a move towards a more direct intervention in internal politics of the United States, in comparison to the previously-known propaganda operations by China.

Meta’s Global Threat Intelligence Lead Ben Nimmo Tweeted regarding the company’s actions, “Meta took down two covert influence ops: Big one from Russia targeting Europe with spoofed news websites like the Guardian and Spiegel. The first one from China to focus on both sides of domestic US politics and Czech-China relations.”

“Essentially, the message was 'America bad, China good,” stated Nimmo, noting that the new operation targeted Americans on all sides of discordant issues such as gun rights and abortion.

According to the report, the bogus social media accounts posed as liberal and conservative Americans, sharing memes and engaging in the comments sections of notable personalities since November 2021. The report further stated that the same grid from China also created fake profiles posing as Czech citizens opposing the Czech government's stance on China.  

Russia’s propaganda operations on Meta platforms

The report from Meta additionally revealed, “the largest and most complex Russian-based campaign since the start of the Ukrainian war.”

Meta’s report described Russia’s disinformation network as a vast grid of more than 60 websites and social media profiles.

Reportedly, the Russian grid aimed to spread Kremlin propaganda about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia’s military via numerous counterfeit social media profiles and dozens of fake news websites. The malicious websites actively posted Kremlin talking points about the impact of the Western sanctions.

Meta revealed that it identified and disabled the malicious activity before it gained momentum through a large audience. As per the report, websites run by the Russian grid were intended to mimic legitimate news sites like The Guardian, Bild and Der Spiegel. According to Meta, these articles from websites were shared across Facebook, Telegram, Instagram, Twitter, Change.org, Avaaz, and LiveJournal.

However, the bogus websites featured links to Russia’s propaganda and disinformation regarding the war in Ukraine, rather than the genuine news presented by those outlets. Over 1,600 fake Facebook profiles were used to transmit misinformation to users in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, and Ukraine.

The Meta’s director of Threat Disruption, David Agranovich, stated that the content of the Russian grid was “amplified by the official Facebook pages of Russian embassies in Europe and Asia” on various occasions.

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Published September 28th, 2022 at 20:31 IST

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