Facebook Removes Russia-Linked Ploy To Spread Disinformation Among Left-Leaning Voters

Facebook said Tuesday it had removed more than a dozen fake accounts and pages linked to a shadowy Russian group that worked to sow discord ahead of the 2016 presidential election, the latest sign Russia is once again working to interfere in the American electoral process.

The social media giant said 13 accounts and two pages were removed after Facebook received a tip from the FBI that they were tied to the Internet Research Agency. The group was highly active in 2016 on every major social media platform, targeting voters before and after the presidential election to bolster Donald Trump, but it has been far quieter during this election cycle.

The accounts, meant to look like a progressive news company, were taken down before they were able to amass a large audience, but The New York Times notes it is the first public evidence Russia is trying to re-up its accomplishments from four years ago.

Twitter also said Tuesday it had removed five accounts and would block any content affiliated with the disinformation effort.

“Russian actors are trying harder and harder to hide who they are and being more and more deceptive to conceal their operations,” Facebook’s Head of Cybersecurity Policy, Nathaniel Gleicher, told NPR. “But there was very little attention paid to this operation.”

The Russian operatives were working to direct social media users to a fake news site called Peace Data that looked like a left-wing news site, going so far as to hire American freelance journalists to write for the website. The New York Times notes the group advertised for writers on an online job board.

The social media analytics firm Graphika, which worked with Facebook to...

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