Facebook Removes Hundreds of Propaganda Pages, Accounts in Georgia

Facebook announced on May 5 that it removed eight networks of accounts, pages and groups, including two groups of hundreds of pages and accounts in Georgia.

"We removed 511 Pages, 101 Facebook accounts, 122 Groups, and 56 Instagram accounts. This domestic-focused activity originated in Georgia. Our investigation linked this network to Espersona, a media firm in Georgia (pro-government accounts). This organization is now banned from our platforms. We found this activity as part of our investigation into suspected coordinated inauthentic behavior publicly reported by a local fact-checking organization in Georgia with some links to our past takedown," the representatives of the popular social media platform said in a statement. 

The report further noted that Georgian networks targeted domestic audiences, similarly to the groups of removed accounts from the US, Myanmar, and Mauritania, while a group of accounts from Russia and Iran targeted international audiences.

In addition, Facebook has removed several groups, accounts and pages linked to Russia. Those accounts were posting content in several languages, including Georgian.

As the company stated, a total of 46 pages, 91 accounts and 2 groups were deleted.

By Ana Dumbadze