By Maria Armental 

Twitter Inc. took down more than 900 accounts linked to the Chinese government that were spreading false or misleading political information about the protests in Hong Kong, the company said Monday.

"These accounts were deliberately and specifically attempting to sow political discord in Hong Kong, including undermining the legitimacy and political positions of the protest movement on the ground," Twitter wrote in a blog post.

Twitter said that it had found "reliable evidence to support that this is a coordinated state-backed operation," but didn't give further details.

Separately, Facebook Inc., acting on a tip it received from Twitter, removed five Facebook accounts, seven Pages and three Groups from its platform.

The social-media giants have struggled to stop misuse of their platforms despite widespread criticism and repeated pledges to address the problem.

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 19, 2019 15:44 ET (19:44 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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