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Facebook, Twitter, others crack down on covert pro-US social media influence campaigns abroad
Yahoo! Money ^

Posted on 08/25/2022 5:34:39 AM PDT by FarCenter

Researchers have cracked down on a covert social media influence campaign on Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms that promoted US foreign policy interests abroad.

The crackdown marks the first time a covert influence operation promoting US interests abroad has been discovered and taken down by social media platforms, say researchers from the Stanford Internet Observatory and research company Graphika.

“Our joint investigation found an interconnected web of accounts on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and five other social media platforms that used deceptive tactics to promote pro-western narratives in the Middle East and Central Asia,” they wrote in a report published on Wednesday.

The campaign promoted the views, values, and goals of the US while attacking the interests of Russia, China, Iran, and other countries, researchers noted.

The investigation found that the covert operation ran for nearly five years across eight social media platforms and messaging apps, with content tailored to the language and messaging of different regions.

Meta said the “country of origin” of the influence operation (IO) was the US, while Twitter listed the activity’s “presumptive countries of origin” as the US and Great Britain.

...

Researchers say a vast majority of the reviewed posts and tweets did not receive any more than a “handful of likes or retweets,” and that only about a fifth of the covert assets had more than 1,000 followers.

(Excerpt) Read more at money.yahoo.com ...


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1 posted on 08/25/2022 5:34:39 AM PDT by FarCenter
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To: FarCenter

The people running these “influence campaigns” think their actions aren’t visible. When the real truth is that nothing works quicker than the truth.

So sad for the world.


2 posted on 08/25/2022 6:14:55 AM PDT by glorgau
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To: FarCenter

In other words, we found websites disseminating the truth and they had to be censored immediately


3 posted on 08/25/2022 6:19:57 AM PDT by Skwor
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To: FarCenter

Tells me they’re working for China or the globalist cause and not the west.


4 posted on 08/25/2022 6:42:06 AM PDT by Skywise
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To: Skwor

No, they found social media users disseminating the truth.

All FReepers need to cut those cords. Otherwise they’re hypocrites.


5 posted on 08/25/2022 7:10:38 AM PDT by logi_cal869 (-cynicus the "concern troll" a/o 10/03/2018 /!i!! &@$%&*(@ -)
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To: Skywise

You just crawl out from under a rock, or was that sarcasm?


6 posted on 08/25/2022 7:11:20 AM PDT by logi_cal869 (-cynicus the "concern troll" a/o 10/03/2018 /!i!! &@$%&*(@ -)
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To: logi_cal869

Well no - they’ve always been “unamerican” but I thought they were under the control of the DNC - which is the one pushing this Ukrainian war.

This means they’re not (entirely) beholden to the DNC and taking their marching orders from somewhere else.


7 posted on 08/25/2022 9:09:16 AM PDT by Skywise
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