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Facebook Discloses New Disinformation Campaigns From Russia and Iran Facebook Discloses New Disinformation Campaigns From Russia and Iran
(about 1 hour later)
SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook on Monday said it had found and taken down four state-backed disinformation campaigns, the latest of dozens the company has identified and removed this year.SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook on Monday said it had found and taken down four state-backed disinformation campaigns, the latest of dozens the company has identified and removed this year.
Three of the campaigns originated in Iran, and one in Russia, Facebook said, with state-backed actors disguised as genuine users. Their posts targeted people in North Africa, Latin America and the United States, the company said.Three of the campaigns originated in Iran, and one in Russia, Facebook said, with state-backed actors disguised as genuine users. Their posts targeted people in North Africa, Latin America and the United States, the company said.
At the same time, the social network unveiled several new initiatives to reduce the spread of false information across its services, including an effort to clearly label some inaccurate posts that appear on the site.At the same time, the social network unveiled several new initiatives to reduce the spread of false information across its services, including an effort to clearly label some inaccurate posts that appear on the site.
The moves suggest that while Facebook is amping up its protections ahead of the 2020 United States presidential election, malicious actors wanting to shape public discourse show no signs of going away.The moves suggest that while Facebook is amping up its protections ahead of the 2020 United States presidential election, malicious actors wanting to shape public discourse show no signs of going away.
“Elections have changed significantly since 2016, but Facebook has changed too,” Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, said in a conference call. “We face increasingly sophisticated attacks from nation-states like Russia, Iran and China, but I’m confident we’re more prepared.”
Facebook, by far the world’s largest social network, faces a near-daily torrent of criticism from American presidential candidates, the public, the press and regulators around the world, many of whom argue that the company is unable to properly corral its outsize power.Facebook, by far the world’s largest social network, faces a near-daily torrent of criticism from American presidential candidates, the public, the press and regulators around the world, many of whom argue that the company is unable to properly corral its outsize power.
Senator Elizabeth Warren, a front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, recently accused Facebook of being a “disinformation-for-profit machine.” The Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department are conducting investigations into Facebook’s market power and history of technology acquisitions.Senator Elizabeth Warren, a front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, recently accused Facebook of being a “disinformation-for-profit machine.” The Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department are conducting investigations into Facebook’s market power and history of technology acquisitions.
Facebook generally takes a hands-off approach toward users sharing false or inaccurate information on the site. Last week, Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, delivered a robust defense of the company’s policies, including users and politicians’ ability to publish inaccurate posts. He said that Facebook had been founded to give people a voice. Facebook generally takes a hands-off approach toward users sharing false or inaccurate information on the site. Last week, Mr. Zuckerberg delivered a robust defense of the company’s policies, including users and politicians’ ability to publish inaccurate posts. He said that Facebook had been founded to give people a voice.
The company does not want to be the arbiter of what speech will be allowed on the platform, Facebook executives have said. But the people and accounts posting to the network, they said, should be clearly identifiable. Yet even as Facebook has advocated free speech, it has been unable to stem the disinformation that people post on its site. On Monday, the company said the disinformation campaigns it removed included content that touched on conflict in the Middle East, racial strife and posts involving Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democratic congresswoman from New York. The posts crossed categories and ideological lines, seemingly with no specific intent other than to foment discord among citizens in multiple countries.
To that end, Facebook will now apply labels to pages considered state-sponsored media — including outlets like Russia Today — to inform people whether the outlets are wholly or partially under the editorial control of their country’s government. The company will also apply the labels to the outlet’s Facebook Page, as well as make the label visible inside of the social network’s advertising library. Mr. Zuckerberg said that over the past three years, Facebook has become better able to seek out and remove foreign influence networks, relying on a team of former intelligence officials, digital forensics experts and investigative journalists. Facebook has more than 35,000 people working on its security initiatives, with an annual budget well into the billions of dollars.
But as Facebook has honed its skills, so have its adversaries, he said. He added that there has been an escalation of sophisticated attacks coming from Iran and China — beyond the initial disinformation campaigns from Russia in 2016 — suggesting that the practice has only grown more popular over the past few years. A cottage industry of companies has also sprung up, he said, selling disinformation services targeted to Facebook to governments and other bad actors.
While the company does not want to be an arbiter of what speech is allowed on its site, Facebook said it wanted to be more transparent about where the speech is coming from. To that end, it will now apply labels to pages considered state-sponsored media — including outlets like Russia Today — to inform people whether the outlets are wholly or partially under the editorial control of their country’s government. The company will also apply the labels to the outlet’s Facebook Page, as well as make the label visible inside of the social network’s advertising library.
“We will hold these Pages to a higher standard of transparency because they combine the opinion-making influence of a media organization with the strategic backing of a state,” Facebook said in a blog post.“We will hold these Pages to a higher standard of transparency because they combine the opinion-making influence of a media organization with the strategic backing of a state,” Facebook said in a blog post.
The company said it developed its definition of state-sponsored media with input from more than 40 outside global organizations, including Reporters Without Borders, the European Journalism Center, Unesco and the Center for Media, Data and Society.The company said it developed its definition of state-sponsored media with input from more than 40 outside global organizations, including Reporters Without Borders, the European Journalism Center, Unesco and the Center for Media, Data and Society.
The company will also more prominently label posts on Facebook and on its Instagram app that have been deemed partly or wholly false by outside fact-checking organizations. Facebook said the change was meant to help people better determine what they should read, trust and share. The label will be displayed prominently on top of photos and videos that appear in the news feed, as well as across Instagram stories.The company will also more prominently label posts on Facebook and on its Instagram app that have been deemed partly or wholly false by outside fact-checking organizations. Facebook said the change was meant to help people better determine what they should read, trust and share. The label will be displayed prominently on top of photos and videos that appear in the news feed, as well as across Instagram stories.
It may be difficult to determine how much of a difference the new, more aggressive labels will make. Home to more than 2.7 billion regular users, Facebook and Instagram see billions of pieces of content shared to their respective networks daily. Fact-checked news and posts represent a fraction of that content. A wealth of information is also spread privately across Facebook’s messaging services like WhatsApp and Messenger, two conduits that have been identified as prime channels for spreading misinformation.