Facebook, Twitter Remove AI-Powered Fake Accounts With Pro-Trump Messages
December 20 2019 - 3:54PM
Dow Jones News
By Jeff Horwitz and Robert McMillan
Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. have taken down a global network
of fake accounts used in a coordinated campaign to push pro-Trump
political messages, including some that used artificial
intelligence tools to try to mask the behavior, the company and
outside research firms they worked with said on Friday.
The move targeted a U.S.-based media company that also operates
out of Vietnam called the BL, which, Facebook alleges, used
computer-generated profile pictures to cover up the orchestrated
nature of its activities. Facebook linked the company to the Epoch
Media Group, which has had ties to the Falun Gong movement, a
spiritual movement based in China which has clashed with the
Chinese government and supported President Trump's reelection.
Representatives from the BL didn't immediately respond to
messages seeking comment.
In a statement posted to his company's website, Epoch Media
Group Publisher Stephen Gregory denied any connection between BL
and his company, saying that BL was "founded by a former employee,
and employs some of our former employees."
The use of AI-generated photos to pass off the accounts as real
represents a new tool for those trying to use fake accounts to
amplify their message on social-media platforms, such as Facebook.
It adds to the longstanding practice of stealing other people's
photos or using stock images for profile pictures. Its use comes as
Facebook and others are deploying their own tools to help spot fake
accounts.
The tech giant said the BL, which the social-media company has
now banned from its platform, ran 610 Facebook accounts, 89 pages,
156 groups and 72 accounts on Instagram. The fake accounts managed
to accrue more than 55 million followers, Facebook said, adding
most of them were outside of the U.S. The accounts targeted people
in Vietnam as well as global audiences speaking Chinese and
Spanish, Facebook said.
The network of fake accounts bolstered its efforts by spending
more than $9 million on advertising on the platform, Facebook
said.
The BL itself had more than 1.5 million Facebook followers as of
Tuesday, according to a version of its Facebook page captured by
the Internet Archive.
A Twitter spokesman said the company "identified and suspended
approximately 700 accounts originating from Vietnam for violating
our rules around platform manipulation -- specifically fake
accounts and spam."
The accounts had a relatively low number of followers, he said,
and have been suspended. Twitter said it was still investigating
but "our initial findings have not identified links between these
accounts and state-backed actors."
Facebook said it may remove additional accounts.
"We are continuing to investigate all linked networks, and will
take action as appropriate if we determine they are engaged in
deceptive behavior," Nathaniel Gleicher, Facebook's head of
security policy, said in a blog post. Mr. Gleicher said "open
source reporting" aided its investigation.
--Alexa Corse and Betsy Morris contributed to this article.
Write to Jeff Horwitz at Jeff.Horwitz@wsj.com and Robert
McMillan at Robert.Mcmillan@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 20, 2019 15:39 ET (20:39 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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