Twitter and Meta removed profiles spreading pro-US propaganda abroad, a report has found.
The report, conducted by the analytics firm Graphika and the Stanford Internet Observatory (SIO), found that in July and August, the social media giants removed dozens of accounts that posted content promoting the US and opposing countries like Russia, China and Iran.
The BBC reported that Twitter had identified the US and England as the possible country where the accounts had originated, but researchers stopped short of attributing the creation of the accounts to any specific countries.
“What is clear, is that the activity is meant to further Western interests, including those of the US and allies,” told the BBC in a statement.
Twitter and Meta, Facebook and Instagram’s parent company, deleted two sets of fake accounts using artificially generated images. The personas also had accounts on other social media platforms, according to the report.
Several of the accounts posed as independent outlets and shared information that presented the US in a good light.
Among the allegations against China was a supposed organ harvesting ring of Muslims in Xinjiang and blaming China “for being the main sponsor of the war in Ukraine. “
The accounts “tailored content to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and designed anti-Russian messaging to appeal to Arabic-speaking audiences in the Middle East,’ and were critical of the Iranian regime and its influence in Iraq.
The posts did not generate much engagement, researchers told the BBC.
Twitter removed the accounts citing “platform manipulation and spam,” while Meta the account exhibited “coordinated inauthentic behavior.” The companies provided SIO and Graphika with the data to perform the analysis.
