ISLAMABAD – Facebook has taken down 103 pages, groups, and accounts ofPakistani origin on for being involved in “coordinated inauthenticbehavior”.
The social media giant revealed that these ‘assets’ were linked toInter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) employees. It cleared that thecompany has no issue with these pages or groups’ content, rather it wastheir conduct that violated Facebook’s policies.
Facebook shared details on ‘four separate, distinct, and unconnected’takedowns linked to both Pakistan and India. The company said that itremoved the accounts, pages, and groups put by the networks “for violatingFacebook’s policies on coordinated inauthentic behavior or spam”.
The company has removed 103 pages, groups, and accounts on both Facebookand Instagram for being part of a Pakistan-originated network.
It has removed 687 pages and accounts belonging to individuals connected toan IT Cell of the Indian National Congress. Other removed pages andaccounts amount to 321 and originate from India for violating Facebookrules against spam.
Read Top Stories
“Although the people behind this activity attempted to conceal theiridentities, our investigation found that it was linked to employees of theISPR of the Pakistani military,” said a statement issued by company head ofCybersecurity Policy, Nathaniel Gleicher.
The assets have been taken down because a network of fake accounts, thatpeople are using to conceal their identity, were making these pages lookindependent, which they are not in reality.
Gleicher further said that Facebook is not sure whether the activity hasbeen directed by the organization or the employees have been acting ontheir own.
