Meta disables Russian propaganda network targeting Europe

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Meta disables Russian propaganda network targeting Europe

By DAVID KLEPPER
September 27, 2022

A sprawling disinformation network originating in Russia sought to use hundreds of fake social media accounts and dozens of sham news websites to spread Kremlin talking points about the invasion of Ukraine, Meta revealed Tuesday.

The company, which owns Facebook and Instagram, said it identified and disabled the operation before it was able to gain a large audience. Nonetheless, Facebook said it was the largest and most complex Russian propaganda effort that it has found since the invasion began.

The operation involved more than 60 websites created to mimic legitimate news sites including The Guardian newspaper in the United Kingdom and Germany’s Der Spiegel. Instead of the actual news reported by those outlets, however, the fake sites contained links to Russian propaganda and disinformation about Ukraine. More than 1,600 fake Facebook accounts were used to spread the propaganda to audiences in Germany, Italy, France, the U.K. and Ukraine.

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-technology-social-media-misinformation-05d147b128c48bfa23705409448b7bbc

[blm]

1. They do it now AFTER Putin gains control of Italy

and Sweden? Fuuuuuck you, Facebook. You know damn well some of your ‘moderators’ are RightWing activists planted by Steve Bannon.

[Maraya1969]

2. They did this before the 2016 election. I remember searching Google

for some Hillary bullshit that was being spread as news and I found pages of ""news" websites saying the same fake story. They just made up a whole bunch of new websites and made them look legit but their purpose was to spread fake Hillary Clinton news.