FB removes 150 fake accounts running from China, posting on US election

Facebook on Tuesday said that it has shut down over 150 fake accounts that were being run from China, including accounts posting about November’s US presidential election.

“We removed 155 accounts, eleven pages, nine groups and six Instagram accounts for violating our policy against foreign or government interference which is coordinated inauthentic behaviour on behalf of a foreign or government entity,” Facebook said in a statement.

“This activity originated in China and focused primarily on the Philippines and Southeast Asia more broadly, and also on the United States.”

The accounts “posted content both in support of and against presidential candidates Pete Buttigieg, Joe Biden and Donald Trump,” Nathaniel Gleicher, Facebook’s head of security policy, wrote in a post on the company’s website.