News & Comment: Facebook Identifies an Active Political Influence Campaign Using Fake Accounts
Facebook Identifies an Active Political Influence Campaign Using Fake Accounts
A coordinated effort, involving 32 pages and fake accounts, included amplifying division around white supremacy and the #AbolishICE movement, the social network said.
Facebook Identifies an Active Political Influence Campaign Using Fake Accounts
Comment:
Lee Munson, security researcher at Comparitech.com, commented:
“Just like previous elections, Facebook is likely to become embroiled in the US mid-term elections, in many different ways. While the platform will allow American citizens to discuss and debate all manner of topics with their friends and families, it was also undoubtedly be used by millions of people looking for news and political comment.
Given how influential Facebook is, it is highly likely that bad actors will attempt to propagate fake news once again to influence voters towards their agenda, though the lasting feeling that Russia is the only nation with an interest should be dispelled because no-one knows that for a fact.
Whether Facebook can genuinely stamp out any shenanigans this time remains to be seen – artificial intelligence is only as good as its programming and I suspect the social media giant does not have anywhere near enough human reviewers on its payroll.”
Hugh Taylor
Hugh Taylor is a Certified Information Security Manager (CISM). In addition to editing Journal of Cyber Policy, he writes about cybersecurity, compliance and enterprise technology for such clients as Microsoft, IBM, SAP, HPE, Oracle, Google and Advanced Micro Devices. Prior to launching his freelance writing career, he served in executive roles at Microsoft, IBM and several venture-backed technology startups.