Facebook removes fake accounts and pages linked to Iran

Facebook has removed dozens of additional pages from Iran that say it was acting in an informal manner. Posted on political topics such as race relations, immigration and the US president.

The company has removed 82 Pages, accounts, and  groups for "coordinated inauthentic behavior" aimed at people in the United States and the UK. The accounts, which were on both Facebook and Instagram, were used to spread content on socially divisive issues, like race relations and immigration, according to Facebook.

The company was quick to point out that while the activity originated in Iran, they weren't able to attribute it to the Iranian government. "It's still early days and while we have found no ties to the Iranian government, we can’t say for sure who is responsible," the company's head of cybersecurity policy, Nathaniel Gleicher, wrote in a statement. 

The accounts and Pages Facebook removed had been active over the last year and, all together, had more than a million followers. The content they posted, which was aimed at people in the U.S. and the UK, included memes on "politically charged topics."

This is the second time Facebook has removed accounts tied to an alleged Iranian influence campaign. The company removed 652 accounts and Pages in August. Gleicher said the latest takedowns had some ties to the previous accounts it had detected. 

This article was originally published by Mashable