Facebook Shuts Down Popular Texas Secessionist Page Because it's Probably Run by Russia [View all]
An incredibly popular Texas secessionist Facebook page has been shuttered by Facebook — on the suspicion it was being run by Russian group potentially tied to influencing the 2016 U.S. election.
According to a September 6 press release, Facebook shut down some 470 "inauthentic" accounts and groups that were "affiliated with one another and likely operated out of Russia." These accounts were allegedly all linked to Russian accounts that paid some $100,000 for political Facebook ads preceding the presidential election.
Business Insider confirmed this sweep included "Heart of Texas," a page that had over 225,000 followers in summer 2017, and featured a steady stream of aggressively anti-Hillary Clinton, anti-immigrant, pro-Texas, anti-LGBT and generally nationalistic memes. You know the type — the stuff Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller likes to post. What made it stand out from other right-wing, meme-heavy social media pages, however, was the page's noticeable difficulties with the English language.
A few examples saved before the page was shut down: a photo of Texas-shaped items with the words "In love with Texas shape," a picture of a giant cowboy boot with the phrase "Always be ready for Texas size," and a meme boasting "Texas is larger than any country in Western Europe. That's why we call it - Proud Texas Country!" (Based on a quick Google search, we're unsure if anyone has ever called it that.)
Read more: https://www.sacurrent.com/the-daily/archives/2017/09/15/facebook-shuts-down-popular-texas-secessionist-page-because-its-probably-run-by-russia
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