Meta and Twitter have removed accounts that push pro-US and pro-Western themes to Middle Eastern and Central Asian audiences, according to a new report.
News direction: In July and August, both platforms removed accounts for violating terms of service about manipulation and inauthentic behavior, researchers from social media analytics group Graphika and the Stanford Internet Observatory wrote in the report.
Why it matters: In the past it has not been common for such campaigns to push pro-Western narratives and messages that promote the US and its allies. Most typically these campaigns of “coordinated inauthentic behavior,” as Meta calls them, have aimed to undermine democracy and prop up authoritarian governments.
- The most numerous influence operation campaigns have been linked to Russia, China and Iran.
Yes but: The campaign, which included messages on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media platforms in a series of campaigns over a period of about five years, didn’t have a ton of impact.
- Posts and tweets received limited engagement, and only 19% of the “hidden assets” identified by the researchers had more than 1,000 followers.
What they say: “This activity represents the most extensive case of a covert influence operation advancing pro-Western narratives that has been publicly documented to date,” Jack Stubbs, vice president of intelligence at Graphika, told the WSJ.
- “This shows that beyond the known actors linked to Russia, China and Iran, other groups with different motivations are using the same deceptive tactics in their efforts to infiltrate and destabilize online communities.”
Details: The accounts’ messages dealt with Western foreign policy — including highlighting China’s treatment of its Muslim Uyghur population and criticizing Russia’s war against Ukraine and its ties to the Taliban.
- The accounts created fake personas with fake technology. Some posed as media, using memes and videos and attempting hashtag campaigns and trying to circulate online petitions.
- These tactics are typical of today’s most influential campaigns, researchers say.
