- Facebook has accused Israeli company of using fake accounts to target African elections
- It was gathered that Facebook has removed hundreds of fake Facebook and Instagram pages, groups, and accounts run by the Israeli firm
- The company primarily targeted Nigeria, Senegal, Togo, Angola, Niger and Tunisia, according to Facebook
A report by the CNN indicates that Facebook has removed hundreds of fake Facebook and Instagram pages, groups, and accounts that were said to be run by an Israeli firm that was targeting countries in Africa.
Legit.ng gathered that the Israeli company Archimedes Group spent more than $800,000 running Facebook ads and their accounts had almost 3 million followers, Facebook, said in a blog post announcing the removals on Thursday, May 16.
Archimedes Group used fake accounts and "represented themselves as locals, including local news organisations, and published allegedly leaked information about politicians," Facebook said.
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According to CNN, the company primarily targeted Nigeria, Senegal, Togo, Angola, Niger and Tunisia but also had some activity targeting Latin America and Southeast Asia, according to Facebook.
A website that appears to belong to the Archimedes Group boasts that its teams "took significant roles in many political and public campaigns, among them presidential elections and other social media projects all over the world.
"Archimedes has created and operates in it's own unique field within the social media realm."
In the blog post, Nathaniel Gleicher, Facebook's head of cyber security policy, wrote, "The Page administrators and account owners frequently posted about political news, including topics like elections in various countries, candidate views and criticism of political opponents."
Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that the All Progressives Congress (APC) cautioned party members, supporters and the general public on the fake news being spread in the social media on the upcoming Kogi and Bayelsa state governorship elections.
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The ruling party described statements ascribed to the national chairman of the APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, on the forthcoming polls, as 'fake.'
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Source: Legit
