Meta Removes Iran-based Fake Accounts

A 3D printed Facebook's new rebrand logo Meta is placed on laptop keyboard in this illustration taken on November 2, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
A 3D printed Facebook's new rebrand logo Meta is placed on laptop keyboard in this illustration taken on November 2, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
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Meta Removes Iran-based Fake Accounts

A 3D printed Facebook's new rebrand logo Meta is placed on laptop keyboard in this illustration taken on November 2, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
A 3D printed Facebook's new rebrand logo Meta is placed on laptop keyboard in this illustration taken on November 2, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

Facebook parent Meta Platforms removed a network of fake accounts that originated in Iran and targeted Instagram users in Scotland with content supporting Scottish independence, the company's investigators said on Thursday.

The network used fake accounts to pose as locals in England and Scotland, posting photos and memes about current events and criticism of the United Kingdom's government, Reuters quoted Meta as saying.

The accounts organized their content around common hashtags promoting the cause, though they at times misspelled them, the company said. The accounts also posted about football and UK cities, likely to make the fictitious personas seem more authentic.

Some of the fake accounts used profile pictures likely created through AI techniques, while others used photos of media personalities and celebrities from the UK and Iraq as profile pictures, Meta said.

Meta said its investigation found links to individuals in Iran, including people with a background in teaching English as a foreign language.

It said the operation had some connections with a small Iran-based network it previously removed in December 2020, which mostly targeted Arabic, French and English-speaking audiences using fake accounts, but did not provide further details on who might be behind the activity.

"We've seen a range of operations coming from Iran over the last few years," said Ben Nimmo, Meta's global threat intelligence lead for influence operations, in a press briefing.

"It's not a monolithic environment."

The social media company said it had removed eight Facebook accounts and 126 Instagram accounts as part of this latest network in December for violating its rules against coordinated inauthentic behavior.



Türkiye Ousts 3 Elected Pro-Kurdish Mayors from Office and Replaces Them with State Officials

People walk in downtown Diyarbakir, southeastern Türkiye, November 1, 2024. (Reuters)
People walk in downtown Diyarbakir, southeastern Türkiye, November 1, 2024. (Reuters)
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Türkiye Ousts 3 Elected Pro-Kurdish Mayors from Office and Replaces Them with State Officials

People walk in downtown Diyarbakir, southeastern Türkiye, November 1, 2024. (Reuters)
People walk in downtown Diyarbakir, southeastern Türkiye, November 1, 2024. (Reuters)

Türkiye on Monday removed three elected pro-Kurdish mayors from office over terrorism-related charges and replaced them with state-appointed officials, the Interior Ministry said.

The move, which comes days after the arrest and ouster from office of a mayor from the country's main opposition party for his alleged links to a banned Kurdish armed group, is seen as a hardening of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government’s policies toward the opposition.

It also raises questions about the prospects of a tentative new peace effort to end a 40-year conflict between the group and the state that has led to tens of thousands of deaths.

The mayors of the mainly Kurdish-populated provincial capitals of Mardin and Batman, as well as the district mayor for Halfeti, in Sanliurfa province, were ousted from office over their past convictions or ongoing trials and investigations for links to the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, according to an Interior Ministry statement.

The mayors are members of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party, or DEM, which is the third-largest party represented in Parliament. They were elected to office in local elections in March.

Last month, the leader of the far-right nationalist party that’s allied with Erdogan had raised the possibility that the PKK's imprisoned leader could be granted parole if he renounces violence and disbands his organization. His comments had sparked discussion and speculation about a potential peace effort.

Ozgur Ozel, the leader of Türkiye’s main opposition party, CHP, branded the mayors' removal from office as a “a coup” and accused Erdogan of seizing “municipalities” he could not win in the elections.

Politicians and members of Türkiye’s pro-Kurdish movement have frequently been targeted over alleged links to the PKK, which is considered a terror organization by Türkiye, the US and the European Union.

Legislators have been stripped of their parliamentary seats and mayors removed from office. Several lawmakers as well as thousands of party members have been jailed on terror-related charges since 2016.

“We will not step back from our struggle for democracy, peace and freedom,” Ahmet Turk, the ousted mayor of Mardin, wrote on the social platform X. “We will not allow the usurpation of the people’s will.”