Facebook bans Israeli firm ‘using fake accounts’ to post news about Nigeria

Facebook has banned Archimedes Group, an Israeli company, for
using fake accounts and pages to post political news about
Nigeria.

Archimedes Group is a political consulting and lobbying firm
that boasts of its ability of wining elections worldwide.

In a post, Nathaniel Gleicher, Facebook’s head of cybersecurity
policy, explained that the accounts and pages were identified
through “internal investigations”.

He accused firm of coordinated inauthentic behaviour, saying so
far, Facebook has removed 265 fake accounts.

“Today we removed 265 Facebook and Instagram accounts, Facebook
Pages, Groups and events involved in coordinated inauthentic
behavior,” Gleicher said.

“This activity originated in Israel and focused on Nigeria,
Senegal, Togo, Angola, Niger and Tunisia along with some activity
in Latin America and Southeast Asia.

“The people behind this network used fake accounts to run pages,
disseminate their content and artificially increase engagement.
They also represented themselves as locals, including local news
organizations, and published allegedly leaked information about
politicians. The Page administrators and account owners frequently
posted about political news, including topics like elections in
various countries, candidate views and criticism of political
opponents.

“Although the individuals behind this network attempted to
conceal their identities, our investigation found that some of this
activity was linked to an Israeli commercial entity, Archimedes
Group. It has repeatedly violated our misrepresentation and other
policies, including by engaging in coordinated inauthentic
behavior. This organization and all its subsidiaries are now banned
from Facebook, and it has been issued a cease and desist
letter.”

Facebook said it is constantly working to detect and stop this
type of activity because it does not want its services to be used
to manipulate people.

Assuring its users of its commitment to continually improving to
stay ahead, the social media giant said it is investing heavily in
building better technology, hiring more people and working more
closely with law enforcement, security experts and other
companies.

In February, Facebook had partnered with Dubawa, a fact-checking
website in Nigeria, to help assess the accuracy of news and reduce
the spread of misinformation.

Subscribe ToNairalaw News!

Finally, Book on Buratai Launched in Abuja

The problem of insecurity and other teething challenges
bedeveling the country can only be addressed through the collective
efforts of all Nigerians, says Dr. Hassan Bashir Jibril.

Dr. Jibril, a prominent Borno physician, stated this during a
book presentation in honour of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS),
Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai.

The fictional book titled, “The legend of Buratai”, was written
by Dr. Abubakar Mohammed Sani, a seasoned journalist and social
activist.

At the Merit House Auditorium in Abuja, Dr. Jibril, noted that
Nigeria has become haemorrhagic nation due to the plethora of
challenges facing the country, in recent times.

Among other things, he listed endemic corruption, religious
sentiment, and ethnic jingoism, as leading causes of division among
Nigerians.

Dr. Jibril, who was the Chairman of the occasion, commended
Buratai and entire officers of the Nigerian Army (NA), for
relentlessly fighting Boko Haram terrorists and other criminal
elements, who are holding the country to ransom.

He appealed to the Federal Government and the Army authorities
to enhance the fighting efficiency of gallant troops at the theatre
of war in North-East, by providing them with superior firearms in
order to confront the deadly insurgents.

Responding to the special honour done him, Lt. Gen. Tukur
Buratai, who was represented by Major-General Sani Mohammed, Chief
of Civil-Military Affairs, said amid the challenges plaguing the
nation, the Army has remained committed to safeguarding the
territorial integrity of the country from aggression.

Maj. Gen. Mohammed, applauded the writer of fictional book,
describing the book’s initiative as timely, unique and
laudable.

He emphasized the need for the younger generation to cultivate
and also imbibe requisite leadership skills, in a bid to reverse
the fortunes of the country.

He reiterated the COAS’ commitment to building a responsive and
disciplined Nigerian Army that will discharge its duties with
utmost patriotism and professionalism.

By PRNigeria