Over the weekend, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, Meta, said it stopped several foreign adversary-linked social networks in its recent quarterly threat report, including one from the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Meta released a report that sheds light on the covert influence operations eliminated by the social media company.
It emphasizes the size and scope of such activities, which extend beyond the social networks that the company owns.
The attempted operation included collaborative efforts between the Islamic government and elements in Turkey.
Meta removed 22 Facebook accounts, 21 Pages, and seven Instagram accounts.
Officials say the operation targeted individuals within Turkey, utilizing superficial independent news sources disseminated through the created pages.
Those in charge of the operation sent supportive content centered on the Islamic Republic and Palestinian Territories, showcasing speeches from Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, anti-Israel content, anti-American content, the Turkish government, and content centered on the Turkish Justice and Development Party.
Upon removing the online content, Meta found a continuous challenge posed by covert operations employing similar accounts to impersonate legitimate news outlets or brands.
The social media company emphasized the risks associated with domain registration and tactics where malicious actors obtained domains resembling official ones containing common typing errors.
Officials say the strategies tried to confuse users into believing they were accessing official websites.
Despite the social media parent company's efforts to remove pages affiliated with these operations from its platforms, these false websites persist and continue to spread misinformation.
Following the protests that occurred in Iran in the wake of 22-year-old Masha Amini's death at the hands of the Islamic morality police, The Foreign Desk reported that workers at Meta, Instagram, and Facebook were acting as agents for Iran’s regime who were engaged in stopping anti-Islamic Republic content and pro-Iranian protests photographs, videos, and hashtags.
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