Facebook targets Russian misinformation

Facebook took down dozens of fake accounts and pages spreading misinformation about the Russian-led military invasion in Ukraine, company executives said Sunday, while also taking measures to combat hacking efforts in the region.

Misinformation campaign: The misinformation campaign was spread by what Meta executives called a “small network” of 48 pages, accounts and groups operating in Russia and Ukraine.

The fake accounts operated fictitious personas across Facebook and Instagram, as well as platforms outside of Meta, including Twitter, YouTube and Telegram, according to Meta’s director of threat disruption David Agranovich.

Hacked accounts: In the past several days, the platform has also seen an “increased targeting” of public figures, including military officials. Agranovich said the hacking effort was carried out by Ghostwriter, a threat actor that has been tracked in the security community.

Facebook has taken steps to secure the accounts and alert users. The platform has also blocked the fishing domains that hackers were using to “trick people” into compromising their accounts, he said.

Meta would not share the names of specific accounts that were hacked, but executives said at least one journalist and some prominent military and government officials were hacked.