Facebook to target ‘information operations’
Social media giant says platform was exploited in bid to sway elections
SAN FRANCISCO
Less than six months ago, Mark Zuckerberg shrugged off the idea that fake news on Facebook swayed the outcome of the U.S. presidential election as “pretty crazy.”
Now Facebook is vowing to shut down “information operators” after the social media giant acknowledged its platform was exploited by governments and other interests to manipulate public opinion, including during the presidential elections in the U.S. and in France.
The new report from the company’s security team details for the first time coordinated efforts to use Facebook to spread misinformation and sow distrust for political ends and outlines measures Facebook is taking to combat what it calls “information operations,” a web of nefarious and insidious activities that extend far beyond “fake news.”
These operations, which include a range of methods including the creation of networks of fake accounts to distort public sentiment, have forced Facebook’s security team to expand its focus from account hacking, malware, spam and financial scams.
Facebook took heat after the U.S. election for not doing enough to remove fake news reports, such as a widely shared but erroneous article claiming Pope Francis endorsed Donald Trump. Some 170 million people in North America use Facebook every day. Nearly half of all adults in the U.S. say they get their news from Facebook.
As a case study, Facebook reveals that during the U.S. election it detected “malicious actors” creating fake news articles and using fake accounts to disseminate them widely. In an effort to curb these operations, Facebook suspended 30,000 accounts in France before the presidential election.