The company said the network of accounts targeted India,
Latin America and the US.
They attempted to recruit influencers to spread false claims
to undermine public confidence in particular Covid-19 vaccines, it added.
In its latest report on "coordinated inauthentic
behaviour", Facebook said it found links between the network and a botched
disinformation campaign from influencer marketing agency Fazze - which is part
of a Russian-based company called AdNow.
Hundreds of accounts have banned across Facebook and
Instagram over a “smear campaign” spreading misinformation to discredit the
Pfizer and Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines.
A network of 65 Facebook accounts and 243 Instagram accounts
were banned after spreading misleading claims that disparaged the safety of the
vaccines
They include posts claiming the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine
would turn people into chimpanzees, with memes using images from the movie
Planet of the Apes.
The fake accounts were part of an effort, largely targeted
at audiences in India and Latin America, across Facebook and Instagram, as well
as other platforms such as Reddit, Medium and Change.org.
Facebook says the “cross-platform disinformation laundromat”
was run by Fazze, a subsidiary of UK-based advertising and marketing firm
AdNow, operating from Russia on behalf of an unknown client.
The operation was exposed when social media influencers in
France and Germany spoke out to reveal they had been offered money for
reposting misleading content.
Russia has been attempting to promote its Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik
V in international markets, but Facebook did not speculate on the possible
motive behind the smear campaign.
Nathaniel Gleicher, Facebook’s head of security policy,
said: “Although it was sloppy and didn’t have very good reach, it was an
elaborate set up.”
He told a media briefing that disinformation campaigners
were increasingly trying to take advantage of influencers to spread their
message online.
He said: “When these operations turn to influencers, they
often don’t give them full context on who is behind it. And when influencers
find out, they are eager to blow the whistle.”
Facebook said that in addition to removing the network’s
accounts, it had banned Fazze from its platforms.
Requests for comment from Fazze were not immediately
returned on Tuesday.
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