Meta removes fake network originating from Iran

Meta removed 17 accounts on Facebook, 22 FB Pages and 21 accounts on Instagram for violating their policy against coordinated inauthentic behavior. This network originated in Iran and targeted Azeri-speaking audiences in Azerbaijan and Turkey across multiple internet services including Meta's, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube, and on their own websites. 

They removed this activity before the operators were able to build authentic audiences on our apps. The people behind this activity used fake accounts – some of which were detected and disabled by Meta's automated systems prior to the investigation – to post content, including in Groups, manage Pages, and to comment on the network’s own content – likely to make it appear more popular than it was. Many of these accounts posed as female journalists and pro-Palestine activists. The operation also used popular hashtags like #palestine, #gaza, #starbucks, #instagram in their posts, as part of its spammy tactics in an attempt to insert themselves in the existing public discourse. 

The operators posted in Azeri about news and current events, including the Paris Olympics, Israel’s 2024 pager attacks, boycott of American brands, and criticisms of the US, President Biden and Israel’s actions in Gaza. Meta found this network after reviewing information about a portion of its activity shared with us by analysts at Google Threat Intelligence Group. We also found links between this operation and the STORM-2035 activity reported on by OpenAI and Microsoft in August 2024. 

- Presence on Facebook and Instagram : 17 accounts on Facebook, 22 Pages, and 21 Instagram accounts. 

- Followers : About 44,000 accounts followed one or more of these Pages, and about 63,000 accounts followed one or more of these Instagram accounts. 

- Ad spend: About $70 in spending for ads, paid for primarily in US and Canadian dollars.

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