Facebook blocks 115 accounts ahead of USA midterm elections

LONDON: Facebook said it blocked 115 accounts for suspected “coordinated inauthentic behaviour” linked to foreign groups attempting to interfere in Tuesday’s United States of America (USA) midterm elections.nn2018 elections in the United States are being held on Tuesday, November 6, 2018, except for certain special elections. All these races, whether for a federal, state, or local office, are being administered by the individual state and local governments instead of at the national or federal level. These midterm elections take place in the middle of Republican President Donald Trump’s first term. All 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives and 35 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate are contested. In addition, 39 state and territorial governorships as well as numerous other state and local elections are also contested.nnThe social media company shut down 30 Facebook accounts and 85 Instagram accounts and is investigating them in more detail, it said in a blog post late Monday.nnThe company took action after being tipped off Sunday evening by US law enforcement officials, who notified the company about recently discovered online activity, “which they believe may be linked to foreign entities,” Facebook’s head of cybersecurity policy, Nathaniel Gleicher, wrote in the post .nnUS tech companies are stepping up security and efforts to fight disinformation campaigns as online troublemakers including Russian groups try to divide voters and discredit democracy.nnFacebook’s purge is part of countermeasures to prevent abuses like those used by Russian groups two years ago to sway public opinion ahead of the 2016 US presidential election.nnLast month, the company removed 82 pages, accounts and groups tied to Iran aimed at stirring up social strife in the US and the UK Facebook carried out an even broader sweep in August, removing 652 pages, groups, and accounts linked to Russia and Iran.nnGleicher said that will provide an update once the company learns more, “including whether these accounts are linked to the Russia-based Internet Research Agency or other foreign entities.” Almost all of the Facebook Pages associated with the latest blocked accounts appeared to be in French or Russian.nnThe Instagram accounts were mostly in English and were focused either on celebrities or political debate. No further details were given about the accounts or suspicious activity.nnWith Press Trust of India / AP