Facebook revealed late Tuesday that the accounts it removed on the eve of the midterm elections were linked to the Internet Research Agency (IRA), a Russian troll farm alleged to be conducting online disinformation campaigns.
“Last night, following a tip off from law enforcement, we blocked over 100 Facebook and Instagram accounts due to concerns that they were linked to the Russia-based Internet Research Agency (IRA) and engaged in coordinated inauthentic behavior, which is banned from our services,” Nathaniel Gleicher, Facebook’s head cybersecurity policy, said in a statement.
Facebook had revealed Monday night that it was suspending 115 accounts — 30 on Facebook and 85 on Instagram — after being alerted by law enforcement.
{mosads}Though the company didn’t say on Monday where they suspected the accounts were originating from, it noted that the Facebook accounts were mostly posting in French or Russian while the Instagram accounts were in English.
Facebook said on Tuesday, as election results were being reported around the country, that it had discovered more IRA-linked accounts.
“This evening a website claiming to be associated with the IRA published a list of Instagram accounts they claim to have created,” Gleicher said. “We had already blocked most of these accounts yesterday, and have now blocked the rest. This is a timely reminder that these bad actors won’t give up — and why it’s so important we work with the US government and other technology companies to stay ahead.”