Meta removes 35 accounts of Iranian-linked network targeting US users

More than 79,000 people followed one or more of the Instagram accounts, the report stated.

By JNS

Meta removed 35 accounts that were part of a coordinated Iran-linked network targeting American users with political content, the tech company said in a report released on Thursday.

The report, detailing “adversarial threats” presented on its platforms and the actions the company took against them, states that Meta took down four Facebook accounts and 31 Instagram accounts in the network that “amplified content (some of which was AI-generated) focusing on American politics, including anti-Republican views, alongside messaging on the Israel-Palestine conflict and immigration.”

The accounts pretended to belong to people based in the United States and were “used to manage civic meme accounts and engage with authentic American users by tagging real journalists and politicians in their posts to solicit content collaboration,” the report said.

The accounts attempted to conceal their Iranian ties.

More than 79,000 people followed one or more of the Instagram accounts, the report stated.

The report also detailed removing additional Iranian accounts engaged in pro-Islamic Republic messaging to audiences in parts of Africa as well as Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia.