San Francisco: Facebook has removed 5,381 malicious accounts, Groups and Pages from its main network and Instagram in June.
The company removed 2,784 accounts, 206 Instagram accounts, 2,249 Pages and 142 Groups and eight networks from seven countries. The vast majority of these campaigns targeted people in their own countries.
The social media giant has also removed 675 Facebook accounts, 16 Pages, and 10 Instagram accounts in Iraq and Iran that targeted audiences in Iraq linked to Al-Maaref Radio in Iraq and Alborz Analysis and Development, an IT firm in Tehran.
In a statement, the social network said that it found these malicious activities as part of an internal investigation into suspected coordinated inauthentic behaviour in the region.
In Mexico, the company has removed 1,621 Facebook accounts, 1,795 Pages, 75 Groups, and 93 Instagram accounts that focused on the state of Campeche and were linked to individuals in that state, including those working for Worgcorp, a political strategy and public relations firm in Mexico.
The company added that it found suspected coordinated inauthentic behaviour in the region and removed it ahead of the Mexican elections.
The company also added that they would remFacebook expunges 5,381 malicious accounts on Instagram, FBove both inauthentic and authentic accounts, Pages and Groups when they found domestic, non-government campaigns that seek to mislead people about who they are and what they are doing while relying on fake accounts.