Posted on May 19, 2019
Facebook busts Israel-based campaign to disrupt elections
1.59K
11
2
5
5
0
Facebook discovered "coordinated inauthentic behavior," with accounts posing on behalf of certain political candidates, smearing their opponents and presenting as local news organizations peddling supposedly leaked information.
"Our team assessed that because this group is primarily organized to conduct deceptive behavior, we are removing them from the platform and blocking them from coming back," said Gleicher.
The activity appeared focused on Sub-Saharan African countries but was also scattered in parts of Southeast Asia and Latin America.
The fake pages, pushing a steady stream of political news, racked up 2.8 million followers. Thousands of people expressed interest in attending at least one of the nine events organized by those behind the pages. Facebook could not confirm whether any of the events actually occurred. Some 5,000 accounts joined one or more of the fake groups.
Gleicher said the accounts primarily aimed to influence people in Nigeria, Senegal, Togo, Angola, Niger and Tunisia.
Facebook investigations revealed that Archimedes had spent some $800,000 on fake ads, paid for in Brazilian reals, Israeli shekels and U.S. dollars. He said the deceptive ads dated back to 2012, with the most recent activity occurring last month.
Facebook shared a few examples of the fake content, including one post mocking 2018 Congolese presidential candidate Martin Fayulu for crying foul play in the elections that vaulted Felix Tshisekedi to victory. Many governments and watchdog groups condemned the elections as rigged and declared Fayulu the rightful winner.
"Our team assessed that because this group is primarily organized to conduct deceptive behavior, we are removing them from the platform and blocking them from coming back," said Gleicher.
The activity appeared focused on Sub-Saharan African countries but was also scattered in parts of Southeast Asia and Latin America.
The fake pages, pushing a steady stream of political news, racked up 2.8 million followers. Thousands of people expressed interest in attending at least one of the nine events organized by those behind the pages. Facebook could not confirm whether any of the events actually occurred. Some 5,000 accounts joined one or more of the fake groups.
Gleicher said the accounts primarily aimed to influence people in Nigeria, Senegal, Togo, Angola, Niger and Tunisia.
Facebook investigations revealed that Archimedes had spent some $800,000 on fake ads, paid for in Brazilian reals, Israeli shekels and U.S. dollars. He said the deceptive ads dated back to 2012, with the most recent activity occurring last month.
Facebook shared a few examples of the fake content, including one post mocking 2018 Congolese presidential candidate Martin Fayulu for crying foul play in the elections that vaulted Felix Tshisekedi to victory. Many governments and watchdog groups condemned the elections as rigged and declared Fayulu the rightful winner.
Facebook busts Israel-based campaign to disrupt elections
Posted from dailyherald.com
Facebook
Intelligence
Israel
Brussels
Tel Aviv
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 2
2
2
0
Why do 26 states in the US have laws against protesting Israel?
Why do we require Americans to give up their 1st Amendment rights for the benefit of a foreign country? In those 26 states: Public employees cannot protest Israel or they can loose their job and retirees can loose their state/city pensions. Students cannot protest Israel or they can loose their scholarship/student aid. Disaster victims cannot protest Israel or they can loose their disaster relief and recovery assistance. Veterans and low income Americans cannot protest Israel or they may loose all state benefits (healthcare, food aid, school lunches, childcare, housing, home loan programs, job training, etc.) Attorneys (and “wholly owned subsidiaries, majority-owned subsidiaries, parent companies, or affiliates”) cannot protest Israel or they become ineligible to serve as public defenders or provide legals services indigent clients. Customers and businesses cannot vote with their wallets or freely determine where their dollars will be spent without being boycotted by the state and all local governments.
Actually, you don't even have to engage in any form of protest, you simply need to refuse to sign a loyalty oath to be penalized. In those 26 states, if an American doesn't sign an oath in support of a foreign power, they can't get/keep a job or do business when there is any direct or indirect contract with the state or local governments. (to include reporters working for a paper/tv channel that runs advertisements from a government agency or publicly funded organization (i.e. state university, lottery, etc.).) https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/pro-israel-loyalty-oath-required-to-do-business-with-texas-aandm-11589214
Fortunately in April 2019, Judge Robert Pitman of the Western District of Texas ruled that state’s law (House Bill 89) unconstitutional as it violated the 1st Amendment by threatening to “suppress unpopular ideas” and “manipulate the public debate through coercion.” U.S. District Court Judge Dian Humetewa wrote in her Sept 2018 order blocking the AZ law: “The type of collective action targeted by the [law] specifically implicates the rights of assembly and association that Americans and Arizonans use ‘to bring about political, social, and economic change.’”
Unfortunately, the first thing the Senate did in 2019 was to try to empower and reinforce those unconstitutional state laws against protesting a foreign government. In the middle of a government shutdown, somehow protecting Israel was more important than preserving Americans' rights or getting the federal government working again. https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/1/text#toc-idB9D55ED16FE3443F8D6B1E75763EFF93
Why does a foreign country have so much influence over the United States Government, plus the governments of the various states and territories?
https://forward.com/news/416030/revealed-secret-adl-memo-slammed-anti-bds-laws-as-harmful-to-jews/
Why do we require Americans to give up their 1st Amendment rights for the benefit of a foreign country? In those 26 states: Public employees cannot protest Israel or they can loose their job and retirees can loose their state/city pensions. Students cannot protest Israel or they can loose their scholarship/student aid. Disaster victims cannot protest Israel or they can loose their disaster relief and recovery assistance. Veterans and low income Americans cannot protest Israel or they may loose all state benefits (healthcare, food aid, school lunches, childcare, housing, home loan programs, job training, etc.) Attorneys (and “wholly owned subsidiaries, majority-owned subsidiaries, parent companies, or affiliates”) cannot protest Israel or they become ineligible to serve as public defenders or provide legals services indigent clients. Customers and businesses cannot vote with their wallets or freely determine where their dollars will be spent without being boycotted by the state and all local governments.
Actually, you don't even have to engage in any form of protest, you simply need to refuse to sign a loyalty oath to be penalized. In those 26 states, if an American doesn't sign an oath in support of a foreign power, they can't get/keep a job or do business when there is any direct or indirect contract with the state or local governments. (to include reporters working for a paper/tv channel that runs advertisements from a government agency or publicly funded organization (i.e. state university, lottery, etc.).) https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/pro-israel-loyalty-oath-required-to-do-business-with-texas-aandm-11589214
Fortunately in April 2019, Judge Robert Pitman of the Western District of Texas ruled that state’s law (House Bill 89) unconstitutional as it violated the 1st Amendment by threatening to “suppress unpopular ideas” and “manipulate the public debate through coercion.” U.S. District Court Judge Dian Humetewa wrote in her Sept 2018 order blocking the AZ law: “The type of collective action targeted by the [law] specifically implicates the rights of assembly and association that Americans and Arizonans use ‘to bring about political, social, and economic change.’”
Unfortunately, the first thing the Senate did in 2019 was to try to empower and reinforce those unconstitutional state laws against protesting a foreign government. In the middle of a government shutdown, somehow protecting Israel was more important than preserving Americans' rights or getting the federal government working again. https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/1/text#toc-idB9D55ED16FE3443F8D6B1E75763EFF93
Why does a foreign country have so much influence over the United States Government, plus the governments of the various states and territories?
https://forward.com/news/416030/revealed-secret-adl-memo-slammed-anti-bds-laws-as-harmful-to-jews/
Want a Contract with A&M? Be Ready to Sign a Pro-Israel Loyalty Oath.
In August 2018, Texas A&M University-Commerce gave George Hale a choice: 1) Sign a loyalty oath swearing he would never join or support a boycott of Israel, 2) Lose his contract to continue working on an award-winning podcast about unsolved crimes in Texas for the public radio station associated with...
(2)
(0)
2
2
0
We've seen a number of attempts to use social media to sway elections as well as public opinion about certain candidates and views of certain governments. I don't envy them the job of monitoring what is being posted.
(2)
(0)
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google