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.



Russian Drone Attacks Injure 8, Damage Buildings in Ukraine

An interior view shows a room inside a hospital building damaged by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, in this handout picture released November 29, 2024. Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Kyiv city/Handout via REUTERS
An interior view shows a room inside a hospital building damaged by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, in this handout picture released November 29, 2024. Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Kyiv city/Handout via REUTERS
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Russian Drone Attacks Injure 8, Damage Buildings in Ukraine

An interior view shows a room inside a hospital building damaged by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, in this handout picture released November 29, 2024. Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Kyiv city/Handout via REUTERS
An interior view shows a room inside a hospital building damaged by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, in this handout picture released November 29, 2024. Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Kyiv city/Handout via REUTERS

Russian drone attacks on Ukraine injured at least eight people and damaged residential buildings in the capital Kyiv and in the southern Odesa region overnight, officials said on Friday.
Ukraine's air force said in a statement that, of 132 drones launched against the country overnight, it had downed 88 drones, while 41 were "lost", likely due to electronic warfare, and one returned to the Russian territory, Reuters reported.
Russia has stepped up its nightly drone attacks on Ukrainian cities as it continues to push along the eastern frontline, making some of its largest monthly territorial gains since 2022.
It launched a record-high number of 188 drones against the country on Tuesday before staging a large-scale attack on Ukraine's power grid on Thursday.
The drone attack on the southern region of Odesa damaged 13 residential buildings and injured seven people, the national police said in a statement.
Fragments from downed Russian drones struck buildings in two Kyiv districts and injured one person late on Thursday, officials said.
Emergency services, in a post on the Telegram messaging app, showed pictures of rubble strewn about inside and outside a pediatric clinic in Kyiv's Dniprovskyi district on the east bank of the Dnipro River.
A security guard at the facility was taken to hospital. Adjacent buildings also suffered damage.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko said drone fragments had struck an infrastructure site in the Sviatoshynskyi district on the west bank of the river.
Kyiv regional governor Ruslan Kravchenko reported minor damage to a private residence and another building without any casualties.