San Francisco (November 06, 2018): Facebook said Monday it blocked some 30 accounts on its platform and 85 more on Instagram after police warned they may be linked to “foreign entities” trying to interfere in the US midterm election.
The announcement came shortly after US law enforcement and intelligence agencies said that Americans should be wary of Russian attempts to spread fake news.
Eighty-five of the removed accounts were posting in English on Facebook’s Instagram service, and 30 more were on Facebook and associated with pages in French and Russian, the post said.
Some accounts “were focused on celebrities” and others on “political debate,” it added.
The tip came from the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Sunday night, Nathaniel Gleicher, Facebook’s head of cybersecurity policy, wrote in the post.
The company announced its actions earlier in its investigation than typical “given that we are only one day away from important elections in the US,” he added.
This year’s contest has been portrayed as crucial by both Republicans and Democrats because both chambers of Congress, and the accompanying ability to pass or reject President Donald Trump’s agenda, are up for grabs.
Social media companies say they are now more vigilant against foreign and other potential election interference after finding themselves unprepared to tackle such activity in the US presidential election two years ago.
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