Today, we’re sharing an update on the enforcement actions we’ve taken since our
last monthly report on coordinated inauthentic behavior (CIB). This includes both
our September CIB report and a set of enforcement actions we’ve taken in the last
few days. In total, we are publishing our findings about 10 networks — six
operations we removed in September, most of which we already announced, and
four new operations that we removed since October 1, including those we disabled
this morning.
In each case, the people behind this activity coordinated with one another and used
fictitious accounts and personas as a central part of their operations to mislead
people about who they are and what they are doing, and that was the basis for our
action. When we investigate and remove these operations, we focus on behavior
rather than content, whether they’re foreign or domestic, and regardless of who’s
behind them or what they post.
Over the past three years, we’ve shared our findings about coordinated inauthentic
behavior we detect and remove from our platforms. Earlier this year, we started
publishing regular CIB reports where we share information about the networks we
take down over the course of each month to make it easier for people to see progress
we’re making in one place. In some cases, like today, we also share our findings soon
after our enforcement. The latest takedowns we are announcing today will also be
included in our October report. You can find more information about our previous
CIB enforcement actions here.
Before we share the details on each network, here are a few trends to note.
More than half of the networks we’re sharing today targeted domestic audiences in
their countries and many of them were linked to groups and individuals associated
with politically affiliated actors in the US, Myanmar, Russia, Nigeria, Philippines and
Azerbaijan. Over the past three years, we’ve seen and taken action against domestic
political actors around the world using CIB. We know these actors will continue to
attempt to deceive and mislead people, including by making particular viewpoints
appear more widely supported or criticized than they are, or by targeting influencers
to unwittingly amplify their narratives.
Two of the networks we’re sharing today engaged primarily in commenting on
content — relying on real people, not automation — to create the perception of widespread support of their narratives by leaving comments on posts by media entities