Meta dismantles huge Russian propaganda network
Facebook parent company Meta has a huge Russian one Dismantled propaganda network that primarily targeted Germany and Europe. The company has identified over 60 fake websites posing as legitimate news sites. Below: mirror, picture, FAZ, southern german and T-Online.
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Meta exposes Russian propaganda network
According to its own statements, the US group Meta has smashed a huge propaganda network that originated in Russia. It is “the largest and most complex operation of Russian origin that we have foiled since the beginning of the war in Ukraine”.
According to an official security report The company uncovered over 60 fake websites posing as legitimate news portals to criticize Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees and support Russia.
The propagandists then distributed dodgy articles and corresponding YouTube videos via networks such as Facebook, Telegram, WhatsApp, Twitter and Co. The Facebook pages of the Russian embassies in Europe had again increased the content.
Fake websites by mirror, picture, FAZ, southern german and Co.
According to Meta, the propaganda operation began back in May this year. It focused on an extensive network of fake websites. This also includes fakes from numerous German news sites such as picture, mirror, FAZ, southern german, T-Online and World.
The company’s investigation also revealed that the propagandists attempted to create new fake websites after Meta blocked the old ones.
This in turn points to the “perseverance and continuous investments” of the action. The previously unknown would have operated “mainly in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian and Ukrainian”.
Meta also smashes Chinese propaganda network
Meanwhile, the Russian propaganda network represents “an unusual combination of sophistication and brute force,” according to Meta. Faking the websites and communicating in different languages would have required both technical and linguistic investments.
The spread in the social networks, on the other hand, is based on clumsy ads and fake accounts. The US group’s automated system also removed numerous accounts, pages and accounts before the investigation.
Meta also explained in its report that the company had dismantled a smaller propaganda network from China. It would have targeted the US and the Czech Republic. In this case, too, fake websites and fake accounts would have spread pro-Russian and anti-Ukrainian information.
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