Facebook removed record number of disinformation campaigns, including in Kyrgyzstan

AKIPRESS.COM - Facebook Inc identified and suspended 17 disinformation networks on its platforms in December, representing its largest monthly takedown, it said on Tuesday. The social media company said it had suspended a little more than 2,800 accounts and pages on its main platform and photo-sharing site, Instagram, for using fake identities and other forms of so-called "coordinated inauthentic behavior," Reuters reports.
The activity spanned 11 countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Morocco, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. In most of those countries, the networks were focused on forthcoming elections and run by domestic groups, Facebook said.
"Deceptive campaigns like these raise a complex challenge by blurring the line between healthy public debate and manipulation," the company said in a blog post.
"We removed 193 Facebook accounts, 246 Pages, 50 Groups and 30 Instagram accounts that originated in Kyrgyzstan and targeted domestic audiences. This network was linked to individuals in Kyrgyzstan with backgrounds in media consulting and had a limited following when we removed it. We found it after reviewing public reporting in Kyrgyzstan about a small portion of this activity.
We removed 92 Facebook accounts, four Pages, 11 Groups and 30 Instagram accounts. This domestic-focused activity originated in Kyrgyzstan and focused primarily on commenting on their content and also on posts by a political party and popular news Pages. This network had almost no following when we removed it. We found it after reviewing public reporting in Kyrgyzstan about a small portion of this activity.
We removed 121 Facebook accounts, 46 Pages, seven Groups and 41 Instagram accounts that originated in Kyrgyzstan and targeted domestic audiences. Our investigation found links to individuals in Kyrgyzstan with a background in media and government, and also a media company called Media Center. This activity centered around the 2020 Parliamentary election and the 2021 snap presidential election while playing on multiple sides of the political debate at once. This network had almost no following when we removed it. We found it after reviewing public reporting about a small portion of this activity," Facebook said.