Facebook takes down accounts tied to company disrupting elections

Facebook has taken down 65 accounts, 161 pages, dozens of groups and four Instagram accounts, which were ran by Archimedes Group, an Israeli political consulting and lobbying firm that aimed at disrupting elections in various countries.

Archimedes was mostly active in Sub-Saharan Africa but also some part of Southeast Asia and Latin America. According to Facebook, the accounts taken down were attempting to influence people in Nigeria, Senegal, Togo, Angola, Niger and Tunisia. But the most significant audience engagement they achieved was in Malaysia, a country that held a general election the year before.

https://apnews.com/7d334cb8793f49889be1bbf89f47ae5c

Authors: ISABEL DEBRE and RAPHAEL SATTER

Publication: AP