Russia turns to spam tactics in online war against Ukraine: Meta

Russia is resorting to spammer tactics to spread Ukraine war propaganda after more sophisticated influence operations at Facebook and Instagram have been thwarted, Meta said on Thursday.

Tactics have included deploying thousands of fake accounts to hijack online conversations about the war and setting up bogus versions of legitimate news outlet websites at similar online addresses, Meta said in a threat report.

“This activity bears a closer resemblance to what you might see from a spammer’s playbook rather than the more stealthy and sophisticated Russian influence operations we have disrupted in the past,” Meta head of security policy Nathaniel Gleicher said in a briefing.