Meta Gets Rid Of Thousands Of Phony Facebook Profiles.

(CTN News) – During a recent briefing on its latest security report, Meta cautioned that deceptive online campaigns originating from China were targeting the 2024 elections in the United States and other countries.

The renowned tech company, which oversees Facebook and Instagram, revealed that it had successfully dismantled five coordinated influence networks from China in the current year.

Ben Nimmo, Meta’s global threat intelligence lead, emphasized the need for vigilance as foreign threat actors strive to engage with internet users in preparation for the upcoming elections.

According to the threat report, Meta has taken action by removing a total of 4,789 Facebook fake accounts that were involved in a campaign focused on national politics and relations with China.

These accounts were found to be promoting China, criticizing its critics, and sharing real online posts made by US politicians, which had the potential to further divide partisan groups.

The report also highlights the expectation of foreign influence operations to exploit genuine political parties and discussions rather than creating original content, especially as election campaigns intensify.

It is anticipated that if China-related issues become a prominent topic during elections in a specific country, China-based influence operations may redirect their efforts toward targeting those debates.

Although Meta traced the origin of these networks back to China, they did not attribute them directly to the Chinese government.

According to Meta, Russia remains the primary and most productive origin of these networks, with operations centered in the country primarily aimed at weakening support for its conflict with Ukraine.

The security report highlighted that websites affiliated with Russia-based campaigns have recently transitioned to exploiting the war between Hamas and Israel as a means to discredit the United States.

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