Ahead of Moldova's parliamentary elections, Facebook has removed a network of Facebook profiles, pages and Instagram accounts. Facebook said some of the activity was linked to Moldovan government employees.
Image: Imago/Zumapress/J. Arriens
Advertisement
Facebook this week removed 168 Facebook accounts, 28 pages and eight Instagram accounts for engaging in "coordinated inauthentic behavior" targeting people in Moldova, Facebook's head of cyber security policy wrote in a blogpost Friday.
Nathaniel Gleicher said the activity originated in Moldova and used a combination of fake accounts and some authentic accounts to mislead others about their identities and intentions. It comes as Moldova prepares to hold parliamentary elections on February 24.
A manual review of the network found that some of the activity was linked to employees of the Moldovan government.
"Given the upcoming elections in Moldova, we wanted to let people know about the action we've taken and the facts as we know them today," Gleicher said.
Are tech giants out of control?
03:16
This browser does not support the video element.
Gleicher said a tip from a local civil society organization played an essential role in the investigation.
He said the page admins and account owners mostly posted about local news and political issues, such as required Russian or English language education and reunification with Romania.
They also shared photos that had been manipulated, divisive stories and satire and impersonated a local fact checking organization's Facebook page that called out other pages for spreading fake news.
In January, Facebook shut down more than 360 pages and accounts linking back to a Russian network operating in parts of Europe and central Asia.
The companies and people unfriending Facebook
A number of companies have said they are either abandoning Facebook or pressing pause of their use of the social network. But the company said it hasn't seen a meaningful number of people ready to #deletefacebook.
Image: Colourbox/Maxx-Studio
Playboy
Playboy Enterprises said it is closing its Facebook pages as the scandal surrounding the social network grows. Playboy said the privacy scandal was the final straw after long having had difficulty posting to the site due to Facebook's strict rules to keep nudity off the platform. Some 25 million people interacted with Playboy's Facebook pages.
Image: Getty Images/J. Kempin
SpaceX and Tesla
Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur behind electric car manufacturer Tesla and rocket producer SpaceX, wrote on Twitter he would delete both companies' Facebook accounts. The decision appeared to be spontaneous after Musk wrote he "didn't realize" a Facebook account for SpaceX even existed. The accounts of both companies each had around 2.6 million followers before they were deleted.
Image: Reuters/T. Baur
Mozilla
The company behind popular web browser Firefox said in a statement that it was "pressing pause" on its Facebook advertising. But it said it would not delete its Facebook account. Instead, the company would stop posting regular updates on the account. "When Facebook takes stronger action in how it shares customer data ... we'll consider returning," it said.
Image: LEON NEAL/AFP/Getty Images
Commerzbank
Commerzbank, one of Germany's largest banks, said it was pausing its Facebook advertising. The head of the company's brand management told German business newspaper "Handelsblatt:" "We're taking a break with our advertising on Facebook. Data protection and maintaining a good brand are important to us." He added that the company would wait and see before it made any further decisions.
Image: Daniel Roland/AFP/Getty Images
WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton
The co-founder of messaging service WhatsApp, Brian Acton, wrote in a March 20 post on Twitter: "It is time. #deletefacebook." Acton became a billionaire after selling WhatsApp to Facebook in 2014. He recently invested in a rival messaging app, Signal, after leaving WhatsApp in 2017. Acton had a history with Facebook before 2014. He unsuccessfully interviewed for a job at the company in 2009.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Gerten
Sonos
The US-based speaker manufacturer said it was pulling its advertising from Facebook and other social media platforms, including Facebook-owned Instagram. Sonos said recent revelations "raised questions" about whether Facebook had done enough to safeguard user privacy. But it said it would not completely "abandon" Facebook because it was an "incredibly effective" service.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/Sonos
Dr. Oetker's out then back in
The German food corporation let its Twitter followers vote on whether it should delete its Facebook account. "We'll delete our Facebook page for 1,000 retweets," it wrote in a March 21 post. It was quickly retweeted over 1,000 times, leading the company to deactivate its Facebook page. But it reactivated the account a day later, writing on Twitter that it "couldn't be" without Facebook.
Image: Dr. Oetker
Facebook responds
Asked about the decision of some companies to leave the social network, Facebook said: "Most of the businesses we've spoken with this week are pleased with the steps we've outlined to better protect people's data, and they have confidence that we'll respond to these challenges and become a better partner and company as a result."
