Facebook removed a network of accounts and pages operated from Pakistan over alleged ‘coordinated inauthentic behaviour’ (CIB). These pages were reportedly followed by 70,000 accounts.

About 453 such accounts, including 103 pages and 78 groups were deleted of domestic users and accounts in India. Along with this, 107 Instagram accounts about India and Pakistan were deleted, for violating the company’s policy against coordinated inauthentic behaviour (CIB), Facebook’s August 2020 CIB report read.

The accounts and pages sought to mislead people about their identity and activity while relying on fake accounts. CIB is different from fake news, as the information shared on these platforms might not qualify as fabricated news but shared with the intention of deceiving users.

‘When we take down one of these networks, it’s because of their deceptive behaviour. It’s not because of the content they are sharing,’ The Hindu quoted Nathaniel Gleicher, Facebook’s Head of Cybersecurity Policy as saying.

The removed accounts that are linked with Pakistan posted content and manage fan Pages and Groups of the Indian military. These groups engaged in coordinated reporting of content and people that were critical of Pakistan’s government or supportive of India.

The content was posted primarily in English and Hindi and focused on regional and current news, including memes and content about social and political issues taking place in Pakistan and India, such as India’s policies toward China, the Indian military, criticism of the Indian government and its handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the social media giant, it removes content for CIB when it finds domestic, non-governmental campaigns that include groups of accounts and pages seeking to mislead people about their identity and activity while relying on fake accounts.

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