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4. We removed 78 Facebook accounts, 45 Pages, 93 Groups and 46 Instagram accounts engaged in coordinated inauthentic behavior. This activity originated primarily in Nigeria and focused on domestic audiences. (Updated on November 6, 2020 at 9:00AM PT to reflect the latest enforcement numbers.) The people behind this activity used fake and duplicate accounts to manage Groups and Pages posing as independent news entities, and to drive people to their offplatform sites. Many of these accounts used stock images and photos of Ibrahim Zakzaky, the head of Nigeria’s Islamic Movement (IMN), Ayatollah Khomeini and Qasem Soleimani. This network amplified particular hashtags including #FreeZakzaky after the arrest of IMN’s founder. The Page admins and account owners posted primarily in Hausa, and also in English and Arabic about local news and events including IMN being a peaceful movement, protests across Nigeria, and criticism of the Nigerian armed forces, police, President Buhari and the ban of IMN. We identified this activity through our investigation into suspected coordinated inauthentic behavior in the region with some limited links to the network we removed in March 2019. Although the people behind this operation attempted to conceal their identities and coordination, our investigation linked this activity to the Islamic Movement in Nigeria. • Presence on Facebook and Instagram: 78 Facebook accounts, 45 Pages, 93 Groups and 46 Instagram accounts. (Updated on November 6, 2020 at 9:00AM PT to reflect the latest enforcement numbers.) • Followers: Around 82,000 accounts followed one or more of these Pages, about 130,000 accounts joined at least one of these Groups, and around 25,000 people followed one or more of these Instagram accounts. (Updated on November 6, 2020 at 9:00AM PT to reflect the latest numbers.) • Advertising: Less than $50 spent on Facebook and Instagram ads paid for primarily in US dollars. (Updated on November 6, 2020 at 9:00AM PT to reflect the latest numbers.) Below is a sample of the content posted by some of these Pages:

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Removing Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior

Investigation / Case Study

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Language

English

Topic

2020 elections
Information Operation
Platform / Tech Accountability

Author(s)

Facebook

Date Published: Oct 8, 2020

Abstract: We removed 38 Facebook accounts, 15 Pages and 6 Instagram accounts for violating our policy against coordinated inauthentic behavior. This domestic-focused activity originated in Myanmar. We identified clusters of connected activity that relied on a combination of fake, duplicate and authentic accounts to post content, evade enforcement and removal, manage Pages and drive people to off-platform websites including military-controlled media domains. These accounts often used stock female profile photos and photos of celebrities and social media influencers. The individuals behind this network posted primarily in Burmese about local news and current events including topics like military activities, the Union Solidarity and Development Party, local COVID-19 response, criticism of the the National League for Democracy, a political party in Myanmar, and Aung San Suu Kyi, as well as a small number of anti-Rohingya posts.

We began our investigation after reviewing local public reporting about some elements of this activity as part of our proactive work ahead of the upcoming election in Myanmar. Although the people behind this activity attempted to conceal their identities and coordination, our investigation found links to members of the Myanmar military.

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Primary Documents

Removing Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior _ Meta.pdf
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Myanmar Internet Project

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Removing Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior

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