San Francisco, Oct 13 (IANS) Facebook has pulled down 1,259 accounts, Pages and Groups from its main app as well as Instagram in September for manipulating public debate.In Iran, it removed 93 Facebook accounts, 14 Pages, 15 Groups and 194 Instagram accounts that targeted primarily domestic audiences in that country, particularly in the Lorestan province. "We found this activity as part of our internal investigation into suspected coordinated inauthentic behaviour in the region and linked it to individuals associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps," the company said in a statement.In September, Facebook removed two networks from Sudan and Iran.Both networks were in some way linked to the military organisations in their respective countries. Each targeted domestic populations to praise the military and criticise opposing factions. "This is the first covert influence operation we've disrupted in Iran that focused almost entirely inside the country and was run by individuals linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps," said Facebook.In Sudan, Facebook removed 116 Pages, 666 Facebook accounts, 69 Groups and 92 Instagram accounts. "We found this activity as part of our internal investigation into suspected coordinated inauthentic behaviour in the region and linked it to the Sudanese Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group operated by the Sudanese Government," the company said.
--IANS na/
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