Facebook removes 687 pages linked to Congress before Lok Sabha polls
New York, Apr 1 (IBNS): As the country is gearing up for the first phase of voting which will be held on Apr 11, Facebook on Monday said it has removed 687 pages and accounts linked to the Congress party due to "coordinated inauthentic behaviour or spam" on the social media platform.
"We have removed Pages, Groups and accounts for violating Facebook’s policies on coordinated inauthentic behavior or spam," Nathaniel Gleicher, Head of Cybersecurity Policy at Facebook, said in a statement.
This is a major action taken by the social media giant against the oldest party in India.
In a statement, Gleicher said: "We removed 687 Facebook Pages and accounts for engaging in coordinated inauthentic behavior in India."
"The individuals behind this activity used fake accounts, the majority of which had already been detected and suspended by our automated systems, and joined various Groups to disseminate their content and increase engagement on their own Pages," it he said.
Gleicher said: "The Page admins and account owners typically posted about local news and political issues, including topics like the upcoming elections, candidate views, the INC and criticism of political opponents including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)."
"While the people behind this activity attempted to conceal their identities, our review found that it was connected to individuals associated with an INC IT Cell," he said.
India's seven-phased Lok Sabha polls will start from Apr 11 and end on May 19.
Counting of votes will take place on May 23.
Few examples of posts removed by Facebook, as showed on its statement, criticised Indian PM Narendra Modi's initiatives and called for supporting the Congress party and its president Rahul Gandhi.
The popular social media platform also said it removed 103 pages, groups and accounts on both Facebook and Instagram for engaging in coordinated inauthentic behavior as part of a network that originated in Pakistan.
Facebook, which is used by top political leaders and parties and celebrities, have been facing pressure in recent times from authorities around the world, including the Indian government, to ensure its forum is not used for political gains or to spread misinformation.
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