Meta took down 60 “disguised” media spreading russian propaganda

Meta detected and took down from its platform the network of russian propaganda sources aimed at Europe. This was reported on the company’s website.

Russian propaganda network targeted primarily Germany, France, Italy, Ukraine and the United Kingdom with narratives focused on the russian-Ukrainian war. The operation centered around a sprawling network of over 60 websites carefully impersonating legitimate websites of news organizations in Europe.

Propaganda websites disguised themselves as European media outlets such as The Guardian, Bild and Der Spiegel. Disinformation was then spread through 1 600 fake Facebook accounts.

Fake media would post original articles that criticized Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees, supported russia and argued that Western sanctions on russia would backfire. On a few occasions, their content was amplified by the Facebook Pages of russian embassies in Europe and Asia.

“The propaganda network presented an unusual combination of sophistication and brute force. The spoofed websites and the use of many languages demanded both technical and linguistic investment. The amplification on social media, on the other hand, relied primarily on crude ads and fake accounts. Together, these two approaches worked as an attempted smash-and-grab against the information environment, rather than a serious effort to occupy it long-term,” goes in Meta statement.

The propaganda was primarily spread in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, russian and Ukrainian.

Meta claims this is the largest and most complex Russian-origin operation that they’ve disrupted since February 24. It’s been operating all summer 2022.

“Throughout our investigation, as we blocked this operation’s domains, they attempted to set up new websites, suggesting persistence and continuous investment in this activity across the internet,” states the company.

Meta also took down smaller Chinese propaganda network.

It shall be reminded that in March this year Facebook and Twitter were blocked in russia.