Facebook says Russian influence campaign targeted left-wing voters in U.S., UK
The website operated 13 Facebook accounts and two pages, which were set up in May and suspended on Monday for using fake identities and other forms of coordinated inauthentic behaviour, the company said.
Facebook said its investigation found links to individuals associated with past activity by the Russian Internet Research Agency, a St Petersburg-based company which U.S.
Investigators at social media analytics firm Graphika studied the operation and said Peace Data predominately targeted progressive and left-wing groups in the United States and Britain, but also posted about events in other countries including Algeria and Egypt.
It said in a report that the website pushed messages critical of right-wing voices and the centre left, and in the United States paid particular attention to racial and political tensions, including civil rights protests and criticism of President Donald Trump and his Democratic rival, Joe Biden.
The findings support an assessment by the United States top counterintelligence official last month, who said Moscow was using online disinformation to try to undercut the Biden campaign, and could stoke fears about further Russian efforts to interfere in the November vote.
Peace Data publishes in English and Arabic and says on its website it is a non-profit news organisation seeking the truth about key world events.
But the three permanent staff listed online are not real, according to the Graphika analysis, which found the profiles used computer-generated photographs of non-existent people and were linked to fake accounts on Facebook, Twitter and business-networking site LinkedIn.
Peace Data staff then shared the articles, covering a wide range of political issues, in left-wing social media groups, Graphika said.
Ben Nimmo, head of investigations at Graphika, said co-opting real people made it easier for political influence operations to remain undetected.
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