Posted on 07/08/2020 1:09:54 PM PDT by RandFan
Facebook said Wednesday that it removed a network of more than 100 pages and accounts associated with former Trump adviser Roger Stone after determining that they engaged in "coordinated inauthentic behavior" focused on audiences in the U.S.
Nathaniel Gleicher, Facebook's head of security policy, said in a blog post that the network attempted to deceive the platform's users on issues related to local politics in Florida, Stone, and hacked materials released by Wikileaks ahead of the 2016 presidential election. People behind the activity used fake accounts to pose as Florida residents and to make it appear that the content was more popular than it was, among other things.
Stone, a former Republican operative, was sentenced to 40 months in prison in February after being convicted of lying to Congress, witness tampering and obstructing a proceeding. His charges stemmed from former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
The network linked to Stone and his associates consisted of 54 Facebook accounts, 54 Facebook pages and four accounts on Instagram, the photo-sharing app owned by the company. Several of the pages were also linked to the Proud Boys, a far-right group banned from Facebook in 2018.
The Network analysis firm Graphika also released a report concluding that Stone’s personal accounts were a part of the network, whose main purpose was to “amplify” other pages and Stone's work. The report said activity among the accounts and pages suggested they engaged in coordinated harassment and incitement in some cases.
Stone's personal Facebook and Instagram pages are no longer active.
Facebook said that the network was most active between 2015 and 2017, and that they had been largely dormant in the following years. The pages had cumulatively garnered about 260,000 followers on Facebook and about 61,500 on Instagram. The network spent more than $300,000 on advertising.
A sample of the content shared by the accounts included posts about Stone, former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and FBI investigations.
The company noted that its discovery of the network came after it began looking into attempts by the Proud Boys group to return to Facebook. Officials at Facebook found the "full scope" of the inauthentic activity after the public disclosure of search warrants pertaining to Mueller's investigation following a joint petition filed by a number of news organizations, the company said.
The development coincided with Facebook's announcement that it had removed three other separate networks that violated its policy against foreign interference and coordinated inauthentic behavior. The networks of fake accounts outside the U.S. originated in Canada, Ecuador, Brazil and Ukraine.
Stone is due to report to prison later this month. On Monday, he asked a court to delay his prison sentence, citing several coronavirus cases reported in the Georgia prison facility where he is set to serve his term.
So now you can't campaign or set up pages or accounts to promote your candidate (for example Rand Paul). Unless of course it's on the Left then its fine!
This is another attack on conservatives. I'm sick of it!
Yeah me to. Hopefully and I mean HOPEFULLY, at some point these jerks need to PAY!
Really annoys me to see on social media that leftists get away with murder yet it’s conservatives that get banned/censored and kicked off. Talk about double standards!
I once had a family member who was being preyed-upon by actual criminals on Facebook and Gleicher’s predecessor wouldn’t do jack sh** about it.
The whole organization is scum.
Sorry to hear about your relative.
I don’t know what can be done but to contact law enforcement.
They will not listen to ordinary users. They see us as scum unless your a leftist journalist trying to get someone banned.
The only people who reacted were law enforcement in the criminal’s home country (UK). Neither Facebook or my government (under Obama) would do anything.
God Save the Queen!
Facebook & Google will be demanding to be regulated within the year. The can’t have it both ways. It’s either accept regulation or get sued out of existence.
Several of the pages were also linked to the Proud Boys, a far-right group banned from Facebook in 2018.
______________________________________________
I just looked up the “Proud Boys” on the internet. IT says that accept all races, all religions, gay or straight. So, what makes them “far-right”? The fact that they love their country?
They made him an unperson.
Stalin would be proud.
“Officials at Facebook”
Oh really?
What the heck is inauthentic behavior?
Anything facebook wants it to be, I guess.
Inauthentic behaviors are characteristic of bots, not human users.
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