Facebook warns of ‘inauthentic’ activity as US prepares to vote

World

Facebook on Monday announced that it had blocked 115 accounts which could be linked to “foreign entities” on the eve of the US midterm elections.

“On Sunday evening, US law enforcement contacted us about online activity that they recently discovered and which they believe may be have links to foreign entities,” Facebook’s Head of Cybersecurity Policy Nathaniel Gleicher wrote in a statement.

“Almost all the Facebook pages associated with these accounts appear to be in the French or Russian languages, while the Instagram accounts seem to have mostly been in English,” the statement said, adding that while some of these accounts focused on political debate.

Investigations into these activities begun early but with the elections fast approaching, the Facebook wanted to notify people about what actions had been taken s o far.

The midterm election puts a third of senators and the entire House of Representatives up for a vote.

In August, administration officials acknowledged that that the threat of foreign influence in US elections is pervasive and ongoing.

Officials at the time stressed that US President Donald Trump’s administration was taking steps to actively combat cybersecurity threats as well as any attempts to influence elections through social media.

Facebook remains under scrutiny for any inflammatory content, coordinated disinformation campaigns and data breaches that occur on its platform.

Dpa

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