Facebook for the first time Facebook has taken down accounts linked to domestic groups in their country. Politico reported that it had removed hundreds of false accounts that promoted divisive content in the United Kingdom and Romania.
The move comes as Facebook is fighting to regain its reputation after a series of privacy scandals, notably linked to Cambridge Analytica.
As part of the cull, the social network deleted almost 140 U.K. Facebook groups and accounts, as well as British users on Instagram, the photo-sharing service also owned by Facebook. These groups carried out coordinated behavior to portray themselves on both sides of hot issues like immigration, differences between Islam and Christianity, and the ongoing conflict between Pakistan and India.
Facebook said it had referred some material to the British police.
In total, 175,000 other users followed the now-removed Facebook and Instagram accounts
In Romania, a further 30 Facebook pages and accounts were removed after Romanian groups created Facebook content that portrayed itself as independent news, but instead promoted partisan political information linked to the Social Democratic Party.
In January, the company said it had deleted 365 pages and accounts with ties to Russian government agencies.
Via Politico
