Facebook removes fake accounts created in China targeting the US elections

 

The removal came as part of the social networks' fight against "unoriginal coordinated behavior" and was the first time Facebook had seen such a campaign in China targeting US policy, according to head of security policy Nathaniel Gleicher.

San Francisco:

Facebook said on Tuesday it had derailed a network of fake accounts from China that recently targeted the US presidential race.

The removal came as part of the social networks' fight against "unoriginal coordinated behavior" and it was the first time Facebook had seen such a campaign in China targeting US policy, according to security policy chief Nathaniel Gleicher.

Facebook has not linked the campaign to the Chinese government, saying its investigation has found links to individuals in China's Fujian Province.

In the removal process, Facebook removed 155 accounts, 11 pages, 9 groups, and 6 Instagram accounts for violating its policy against foreign interference with phishing schemes.

The campaign from China has focused primarily on the Philippines and Southeast Asia more broadly, and slightly on the United States, according to Gleicher.

Facebook said the posts specifically commented on maritime activity in the South China Sea, including US Navy ships.

Account holders had to use technologies to circumvent the Chinese "Great Firewall", which bans the US social network. The people who ran the pages pretended to be locals in the places they targeted, and tried to hide their locations using VPN software, Gleicher said.

Network posted in Southeast Asia about Beijing's interest in the South China Sea; Hong Kong, in support of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, Facebook said.

The network has clearly been active since at least 2018, and only recently began publishing content for and against US President Donald Trump and his Democratic rival, Joe Biden, according to Gleicher.

About 133,000 people followed one or more of its campaign pages on Facebook, and about 61,000 people joined one or more of its online groups, according to the California-based social network.