Facebook says it removed record number of disinformation campaigns in December

Facebook Inc identified and suspended 17 disinformation networks on its platforms in December, representing its largest monthly takedown, the U.S. tech giant said on Tuesday.

The social media company said it had suspended a little more than 2,800 accounts and pages on its main platform and photo-sharing site, Instagram, for using fake identities and other forms of so-called “coordinated inauthentic behaviour”.

The activity spanned 11 countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Morocco, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. In most of those countries, the networks were focused on forthcoming elections and run by domestic groups, Facebook said.

“Deceptive campaigns like these raise a complex challenge by blurring the line between healthy public debate and manipulation,” the company said in a blog post.