The social media giant Facebook on Monday said it has removed 687 pages and accounts linked to individuals associated with an information technology cell of the Congress party.
Facebook has also deleted 103 pages, groups and accounts on its platform and Instagram for ‘engaging in inauthentic behaviour from Pakistan’.
The pages and accounts were deleted not because they peddled fake news, but for inauthentic behaviour and promoting spam, Facebook said.
Facebook Head of Cybersecurity Policy Nathaniel Gleicher told reporters that the majority of these pages had already been detected and suspended by its automated systems — that engaged in “coordinated inauthentic behaviour” in India and were linked to individuals associated with an IT cell of the Indian National Congress (INC).
Facebook removes Congress linked 687 accounts, pages for inauthentic behaviour, party denies claims
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“When we remove one of these networks, the reason we remove them is because of their coordinated inauthentic behaviour, that they are using network of fake accounts to conceal their identity….to mislead who’s behind them. That’s the basic reason for removal,” he told reporters.
The social media firm said that the pages and accounts typically posted about local news and political matters, “including topics like coming polls, candidate views, the Indian National Congress and criticism of political opponents including the Bharatiya Janata Party”, ANI reported.
