April 7, 2022
1 min read

Meta removes network in Russia for violating policies

The people behind this activity relied on fake, authentic, and duplicate accounts to submit hundreds – in some cases, thousands – of complaints against their targets through Meta’s abuse reporting tools…reports Asian Lite News

Meta said on Thursday that it has removed a network in Russia for abusing its reporting tools to repeatedly report people in Ukraine and in Russia for fictitious policy violations of Facebook policies, in an attempt to silence them.

According to the company, a Belarus-based group attempted to compromise Facebook accounts of Ukrainian military personnel.

It also posted videos from hacked accounts, calling on the Ukrainian army to surrender, Meta said in its inauthentic behaviour policy report.

The hacking campaign, known as “Ghostwriter,” has been linked to the Belarusian government.

“We removed a network of about 200 accounts operated from Russia. The individuals behind it coordinated to falsely report people for various violations, including hate speech, bullying and inauthenticity, in an attempt to have them and their posts removed from Facebook,” said the company.

The majority of these fictitious reports focused on people in Ukraine and Russia, but the network also reported users in Israel, the US, and Poland.

The people behind this activity relied on fake, authentic, and duplicate accounts to submit hundreds – in some cases, thousands – of complaints against their targets through Meta’s abuse reporting tools.

“Many of this network’s accounts were detected and disabled by our automated systems,” said Meta.

The company said that there were attempts by previously disrupted state and non-state actors to come back on the platform, “in addition to spam networks using deceptive tactics to monetise public attention to the ongoing war”.

The company’s first quarterly adversarial threat report also detailed threats across multiple policy violations in Iran, Azerbaijan, South America, and the Philippines.

Russia last month blocked access to Facebook in the country. In response, its parent company Meta paused all ads in Russia.

Russia’s communications agency Roskomnadzor had blocked access to Facebook, citing 26 cases of “discrimination against Russian media and information resources by Facebook” since October 2020.

ALSO READ-Dubai announces plans to enter the metaverse

Previous Story

KKR thrashes Mumbai Indians by five wickets in IPL 2022

Next Story

Korea Open: Indian shuttlers advanced to quarters

Latest from Europe

Multi-alignment, upgraded

With US ties strained and China tense, New Delhi taps Europe’s harder edge for co-development, clean tech and strategic autonomy, writes Manoj Menon India is recalibrating its great-power hedging as frictions with

Finland Backs India’s UNSC Push at UN

Finland backs reform call at UNGA, echoing India’s push for UNSC seat and wider global governance overhaul…reports Asian Lite News Finland and India have found common ground on the future of global

Goyal lauds TEPA coming into force

India seals landmark EFTA trade deal, unlocking $100bn investment and one million jobs…reports Asian Lite News India’s long-awaited Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) officially

Putin Likely to Visit India on Dec 5-6

Putin’s December visit set to test India’s balancing act between Moscow and Washington Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to visit India on 5–6 December for a summit with Prime Minister Narendra

Lavrov: India-Russia Bond Beyond Oil

US President Donald Trump has imposed a 25 per cent punitive tariff on India for buying Russian oil and is pressuring it to stop the purchases.;…reports Asian Lite News Russia’s Foreign Minister
Go toTop

Don't Miss

Russian missiles hit residential building in eastern Ukraine

Ukraine began its long-awaited counteroffensive in June but has made

Meta purged over 26mn bad pieces of content in India in Dec

On Instagram, the company received 19,750 reports through the Indian