Facebook: We Found Campaign Influence Operations For Upcoming Elections

Ken AshfordCybersecurity, Election 2018, L'Affaire RusseLeave a Comment

Facebook has detected an ongoing influence operation targeting Americans with content related to the politically contentious issues of immigration enforcement and white supremacism, according to a report from the New York Times: 

Like the Russian interference campaign in 2016, the recently detected campaign dealt with divisive social issues. Facebook discovered coordinated activity around issues like a sequel to last year’s deadly “Unite the Right” white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va. Coordinated activity was also detected around #AbolishICE, a left-wing campaign on social media that seeks to end the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, according to two people briefed on the findings.

According to the Times, the social media company has briefed several members of Congress and is working with the FBI to investigate the operation, which reportedly includes “dozens of inauthentic accounts and pages that are believed to be engaging in political activity ahead of November’s midterm elections.”

Facebook has reportedly been unable to link the accounts to Russia, but the Times reports company officials are suspicious the country may “possibly” be involved. President Trump has repeatedly downplayed Russia’s interference in the 2016 elections, and failed to take significant steps to guard against future attacks.