Facebook has recently taken out a network of foreign players that was disseminating misinformation targeting the United States users. This said operation posted a content related to the present U.S. affairs, with a big part of it, in the backing of American President Donald Trump. Facebook said, an estimate of 55 million accounts, most of which, the company claimed, came from outside the U.S., followed one or more of the pages of the operation. The group often used fake accounts to lead people to different news sites off of the Facebook page.
The individuals orchestrating the operation posted content, representing the B.L., and according to Facebook and, as indicated in an article posted pm Engadget, "its investigation linked the activity to Epoch Media Group." The same article said, the latter is The Epoch Times' publisher, which was banned by Facebook earlier on, because of its "shady ad-buying practices." And, as it does not directly acclaim the website, the leading social media company may have been alerted to the misinformation campaign of the group by Snopes, a self-governing publication, the first to notice the activity of B.L. and link it up to The Epoch Times.
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Misleading Facebook Users Outside the U.S.
Other than the U.S. Users, the operation also aimed the Vietnamese, Spanish, and Chinese speakers worldwide, and in some circumstances, used the Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) to cover its tracks. The generally Vietnamese operation included too, pages, and people from the U.S., to help make it more real and avoid discovery by Facebook. Aside from memes and articles related to President Trump, the group posted topics too related to family values, conservative ideology, and religious freedom.
As a whole, Facebook said, as posted on Engadget, it banned 610 accounts, 156 groups, 89 pages, and 72 Instagram accounts "as part of its enforcement action." The company added, the action spent too, nearly $9.5 million on buying ads on both Instagram and Facebook. On its website, Facebook wrote that, in each of the cases, "people responsible for the said operation were in coordination with one another and used fake accounts" for misrepresentation of themselves, and that was their source of such an action.
In a different enforcement initiative, Facebook also removed an operation that was playing its social network in Georgia. This smaller action engaged 39 Facebook accounts, over 300 pages, 13 groups, and over 22 Instagram accounts. The operation was concentrated mostly on politics and domestic news. Meanwhile, Twitter has identified and taken out too, almost 6,000 accounts that are believed to be misleading users, that, according to A.P. News, were part of a coordinated initiative by the government agencies and individuals in Saudi, to advance the geopolitical interests of the country.
Advertising Policies of Facebook
On its Facebook page, Facebook indicated that before an ad shows up on Instagram or Facebook, it is thoroughly reviewed to ensure they meet the company's advertising policy. Usually, most of these adds are evaluated within 24 hours, although in several circumstances, the review may take longer. To help a user build a user-friendly and compliant ads experience, some common areas being considered for ad posting to include the personal attributes, F.B.'s brands, and sexually suggestive content.
During the ad assessment process, the company checks the ad's text, positioning, targeting, and images, all on top of the content that's already on the landing page. The ad may be disapproved if its landing page content is not completely functional, or, if the product being promoted. It does not fully comply with the company's advertising policy. After the review, the user will receive a notification letting him know if his ad is approved or not. If approved, Facebook will start running the ad, and the results can be seen via the Ads Manager.
