Facebook and Twitter shut down accounts targeting black social media users in America
Written by Site Hub on March 16, 2020
On Thursday, March 12, 2020, Facebook and Twitter both revealed that they had shut down accounts connected to Russian parties that were using the platforms to interfere with elections by targeting black social media users with fake news and divisive messages. Posts, pages, and tweets were typically about civil rights and race topics, but also covered fashion, black history, police behavior, and even LGBT+ matters.
Facebook revealed that it had found 69 pages and 49 accounts on its name platform that were Russian-backed through third-party workers and volunteers from other countries, including Ghana and Nigeria. It also shut down 85 Instagram accounts. Twitter has shut down a total of 71 accounts so far.
In nearly every case, the accounts were designed to look like they were created by Americans living within the United States. This type of fraud matches Russia’s known 2016 efforts to demotivate black voters. According to several media outlets, including CNN and The Hill, Russia used or set up companies and organizations in other countries to continue its election interference disinformation campaign because Facebook and Twitter had successfully stopped campaigns coming directly out of Russia and Europe.
Not all workers and volunteers knew that they were committing fraud. Some were told that they were chosen to help non-governmental organization (NGO) non-profits. The shutdowns were necessary given that these accounts had already accrued high numbers of followers, in some cases, several hundred thousand people per account, who were duped into spreading misinformation to their own friends and other social circles.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/12/world/russia-ghana-troll-farms-2020-ward/index.html
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