Facebook removes a network of fake accounts with a $1.2 m misinformation campaign supporting military-backed telecoms.
The accounts and pages which allegedly spread disinformation were deleted.
Facebook also deleted a network of fake pages and profiles suspected to have been run by Vietnam’s Viettel and Myanmar’s Mytel— both owned by Viettel Group— to undermine their rivals.
In Monday’s first Coordinated Inauthentic Activity Report[ PDF], Facebook alleged the two telcos run 13 fake Facebook profiles and 10 pages to publish critical comments on their rivals on Myanmar’s telco sector.
The Facebook accounts posted as rival telcos consumers who would post critiques of them, the study stated, while the pages claimed to be independent market news websites. Such profiles and sites have gained more than 265,000 fans.
The telcos spent nearly $1.2 million on Facebook ads to distribute individual fake accounts and pages, according to the survey.
Last year, as New Zealand Privacy Commissioner John Edwards, branded the social network as “morally bankrupt pathological liars who promote genocide (Myanmar), “morally bankrupt pathological liars who enable genocide (Myanmar).”
Edwards added that the company does not assume any liability for any material or damages.
Besides Burma, during February, Facebook has suspended foreign influence efforts that started in China, Turkey, Russia, and Iran. Facebook suspended a total of 467 Facebook accounts, 1,245 Instagram Accounts, 248 Facebook pages, and 49 groups it said were used during this time to spread disinformation.
