'Troll factory': Facebook, Twitter suspend accounts, pages linked to Russian network ahead of US election

The FBI in a statement said that it will provide information to the platforms ’to better protect against threats to the nation’s security and democratic processes' Oakland: Facebook said Tuesday that it removed a small network of accounts and pages linked to Russia’s Internet Research Agency, the “troll factory” that has used social media accounts to sow political discord in the US since the 2016 presidential election. Facebook said Tuesday the network’s activity focused on the US, UK, Algeria and Egypt and other English-speaking countries and countries in the Middle East and North Africa. To evade detection, the people behind the network recruited Americans to do their bidding, likely unknowingly, both as journalists and as people authorised to purchase political Facebook said the people behind the network posted about global events ranging from racial justice in the US and the UK, NATO, the QAnon conspiracy, President Donald Trump and Joe Biden’s presidential campaign. However, Facebook said less than $2 worth of those ads targeted the US The network’s posts directed people to a website called PeaceData, which claims to be a global news organisation that, according to a report by research firm Graphika, “took a left-wing stance, opposing what it portrayed as Western imperialism and the excesses of capitalism.” The FBI said in a statement Tuesday that it provided information to the platforms “to better protect against threats to the nation’s security and our democratic processes.” “While technology companies independently make decisions regarding the content of their platforms and the safety of their members, the FBI is actively engaged with our federal partners, election officials, and the private sector to mitigate foreign threats to our nation’s security and our elections,” the statement said.