Facebook’s Civil Rights Audit communities of color with demobilizing content. Since 2016, Facebook has built out a team of over 200 people globally — including experts in cybersecurity, disinformation research, digital forensics, law enforcement, national security and investigative journalism — that is focused on combating these operations. Since the last Audit Report, Facebook states that it has continued to devote energy and resources to combating these threats and has built out its strategies for detecting coordinated inauthentic behavior. Facebook has adopted a three-pronged approach focused on detecting and removing: (1) violating content; (2) known bad actors; and (3) coordinated deceptive behavior. In other words: • Facebook states that it removes suppressive content that violates Facebook policy regardless of who posts it; • Facebook attempts to identify and remove representatives of groups that have been banned from the platform (like the IRA) regardless of what they post; and • Facebook attempts to detect and dismantle coordinated efforts to deceive through fake accounts, impersonation, or use of bots or other computer-controlled accounts. The purpose of these three strategies is to have the flexibility to catch these information operations, understanding that tactics are likely to evolve and change as bad actors attempt to evade detection. Using this strategy, Facebook recently took down a network of accounts based in Ghana and Nigeria that was operating on behalf of individuals in Russia. The network used fake accounts and coordinated activity to operate Pages ostensibly run by nonprofits and to post in Groups. In 2016, Russian actors used fake accounts to build audiences with non-political content targeting issues relevant to specific communities, and then pivoted to more explicitly political or demobilizing messages. Here, this network of accounts was identified and removed when they appeared to be attempting to build their audiences — posting on topics such as black history, celebrity gossip, black fashion, and LGBTQ issues — before the accounts could pivot to possibly demobilizing messages. Facebook reported that it removed 49 Facebook accounts, 69 Pages, and 85 Instagram accounts as part of this enforcement action. Facebook’s systems are also used to detect coordinated deceptive behavior — no matter where it is coming from, including the United States. Facebook recently reported taking down two domestic networks engaged in coordinated inauthentic behavior, resulting in the removal of 35 Facebook accounts, 24 pages, and 7 Groups. These networks posted on topics relating to US politics including the presidential election and specific candidates, as well as COVID-19 and hate speech and/or conspiracy theories targeting Asian Americans. While it is concerning that information operations continue to be a threat that is often targeted at particular communities, the Auditors are encouraged by Facebook’s response and reported investment of time and resources into increasing their detection capabilities. 34