According to Meta on Tuesday, a vast misinformation network with its roots in Russia attempted to promote Kremlin talking points regarding the invasion of Ukraine using hundreds of phony social media accounts and dozens of fake news websites.
Deactivated
The business, which owns Facebook and Instagram, claimed to have discovered and stopped the operation before it could build a sizable following. Facebook nonetheless claimed it was the most extensive and intricate Russian propaganda operation it had discovered since the invasion started.
More than 60 websites, including The Guardian newspaper in the U.K. and Der Spiegel in Germany, were used in operation, all designed to look like reputable news websites. However, the bogus websites linked to Russian disinformation and propaganda about Ukraine rather than the news those outlets covered. The misinformation was sent to audiences in Germany, Italy, France, the United Kingdom, and Ukraine via over 1,600 fictitious Facebook pages.
The results emphasized the danger that misinformation continues to pose and the promise made by social media companies to monitor their websites.
One of the fake news items, titled “Video: False Staging in Bucha Revealed!” accused Ukraine of ordering the killing of hundreds of Ukrainians in a Russian-occupied town.
On platforms including Facebook and Instagram, as well as Telegram and Twitter, links to the false news articles and other pro-Russian messages and videos were subsequently disseminated via bogus social media accounts. The network was operating all summer long.
According to David Agranovich, head of threat disruption at Meta, “the operation’s content was occasionally enhanced by the official Facebook accounts of Russian embassies in Europe and Asia.” Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine earlier this year, “I believe this is arguably the greatest and most intricate Russian-origin effort that we’ve destroyed.”
Investigative journalists in Germany were the first to become aware of the network’s activities. When Meta started looking into the matter, it discovered that Facebook’s automated systems had already eliminated many fraudulent accounts. When the network’s Facebook pages were shut down earlier this year, thousands of people followed them.
Meta
Menlo Park, California, is home to Meta Platforms, Inc., also known as Meta and formerly known as Facebook, Inc. and TheFacebook, Inc. The company is the proprietor of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, among other things. Meta is one of the most valuable businesses in the world. It is considered one of the Big Five American technological heavyweights, along with Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft.
Researcher’s Observation
According to researchers, the network couldn’t be immediately linked to the Russian government. According to Agranovich, the operation used some advanced strategies, including using different languages and skillfully designed imposter websites, and he emphasized the role performed by Russian officials.
The Kremlin has utilized online disinformation and conspiracy theories from the start of the conflict in February to undermine international support for Ukraine. Russian government-affiliated organizations have claimed that Ukraine staged assaults, blamed the conflict on unfounded claims that the United States was developing bioweapons, and painted Ukrainian refugees as violent criminals and rapists.
According to Brian Murphy, former intelligence chief for the Department of Homeland Security, who is now a vice president at the counter-disinformation company Logically, Russia can do more than one thing at once. This is true even though Russia is fully involved in the military conflict in Ukraine. “Their sophisticated disinformation campaigns have never stopped.”
The Menlo Park, California-based Meta Platforms Inc.’s researchers also discovered a much smaller network that had its roots in China and tried to promote polarizing political content in the United States.
With some posts obtaining just one engagement, the operation barely reached a small U.S. audience. The posts also made some basic English language errors and a tendency to post during Chinese business hours, which revealed they weren’t American.
Despite being ineffectual, the network is noteworthy because Meta recognized it as the first to have sent political messages to Americans in advance of this year’s midterm elections. Despite not endorsing any particular party, the Chinese messages appeared to be trying to create division.
Social Media Action
Social media platforms and European governments have tried to stifle the Kremlin’s propaganda and disinformation, only to see Russia shift tactics.
A message sent to the Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C., asking for a response to Meta’s recent actions was not immediately returned.
Ben Nimmo, who oversees global threat intelligence for Meta, said that even though the Chinese disinformation campaign failed, it was significant because it represented a change in strategy.
