TEHRAN, October 27 -Social media giant Facebook deletes 82 accounts, calling them “Iran-linked” ones engaging in politically-charged “divisive” activity.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) -The accounts, it said on Friday, had been disguised as American and British ones, and had attracted more than one million followers in the United States and Britain.
The company claimed it had shared information about the accounts with researchers, technology companies, and American and British governments before taking the action.
The accounts would disperse “large volumes of divisive political content such as race relations, police brutality, and US President Donald Trump," said Washington-based Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab.
The content was aimed at "sowing discord" ahead of US congressional elections on November 6, Facebook alleged.
Some of the accounts were featured on Facebook’s sister social networking platform Instagram.
Facebook said it had detected “coordinated activity” between the accounts earlier in the month.
‘War room’
Facebook said it had devised a "war room" as the elections neared.
Back in August, Facebook and Twitter suspended hundreds of accounts they had similarly associated with Iran. The accounts had gathered close to a million followers.
A similar move was taken by Google against 39 YouTube channels at the time.
The channels reportedly belonged to the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), which condemned the move as a “coordinated” one and a "clear example of censorship" aimed at preventing the dissemination of truth and alternative viewpoints online.
American social media and internet giants have likewise accused Russia of trying to interfere in US politics, targeting accounts they accuse of serving Moscow’s interests.
Source: Press TV
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