Facebook Suspends 453 Pakistani FB Accounts & Over 100 Instagram Accounts For Spreading Fake News, Anti-India Propaganda

Facebook stated that they found this network as part of their internal investigation into suspected coordinated inauthentic behavior in the region.

(Representational Image: Getty)

New Delhi: Taking a sweeping action against Pakistani elements involved in spreading fake news and hatred, the social networking giant Facebook has suspended 453 such accounts on Wednesday. As per reports, the social networking site has also removed 103 Facebook pages, 78 FB groups and over 100 similar Instagram account which were operating from Pakistan and were spreading anti-India propaganda. In its report on Coordinated Inauthentic Behaviour, Facebook said that apart from taking action on some accounts from Russia and the United States, it removed 453 Facebook accounts, 103 Pages, 78 Groups and 107 Instagram accounts operated from Pakistan and focused on Pakistan and India. We found this network as part of our internal investigation into suspected coordinated  inauthentic behavior in the region, the report states. Defining, coordinated inauthentic behavior, the report states “when we find domestic, non-government campaigns that include groups of accounts and Pages seeking to mislead people about who they are and what they are doing while relying on fake accounts, we remove both inauthentic and authentic accounts, Pages and Groups directly involved in this activity.” It is to be noted that Congress, BJP and even TMC in India – three separate parties have alleged Facebook of bias against them. Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad wrote a scathing letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg complaining about his social media platform's bias against right of centre; A similar letter was shot by Trinamool's Derek O'Brien, even earlier, making similar allegations of bias against the Trinamool Congress party.