<p>Facebook on Thursday said it removed posts from campaign using fake accounts to praise US President Donald Trump as part of its latest crackdown on orchestrated deception.</p>.<p>The social network has banned US marketing firm Rally Forge, which coordinated the "inauthentic behaviour" on behalf of the pro-Trump youth group Turning Point USA and Inclusive Conservation Group, according to head of cybersecurity policy Nathaniel Gleicher.</p>.<p>Activity at the bogus accounts mostly involved commenting on news articles rather than posting their own content, according to Facebook.</p>.<p>Comments about trophy or sport hunting were aimed mostly at the US, and a bit at people in Kenya and Botswana, Gleicher said.</p>.<p>The campaign included criticism of the Democratic party and its presidential candidate former vice president Joe Biden and praise of Trump and the Republican party, according to Facebook.</p>.<p>The network appeared to have started its operations in 2018, having taken aim previously at the midterm elections in the US, the social network said.</p>.<p>Facebook removed 200 accounts and 55 pages at the social network and 76 Instagram accounts it said were part of the deception campaign and violated policy against coordinated inauthentic behaviour.</p>.<p>About 3,73,000 accounts followed one or more of the campaign's Facebook pages and around 22,000 people followed one or more of the Instagram accounts, according to the social network.</p>.<p><strong>Also read: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/seeking-civility-in-facebook-groups-ahead-of-us-presidential-election-897006.html" target="_blank">Seeking civility in Facebook groups ahead of US presidential election</a></strong></p>.<p>"Many of these accounts used stock profile photos and posed as right-leaning individuals from across the US," Facebook said.</p>.<p>In 2018, some of the accounts posed as people with left-leaning views to make comments about news articles or public figures.</p>.<p>Facebook's investigation into the network was triggered by <em>Washington Post</em> reports about some elements of the campaign, according to Gleicher.</p>.<p>"Although the people behind this network attempted to conceal their identities and coordination, our investigation linked this activity to Rally Forge," Gleicher said.</p>.<p>"Rally Forge is now banned from Facebook. We are continuing to investigate all linked networks, and will take action as appropriate if we determine they are engaged in deceptive behaviour."</p>.<p>Nearly a million dollars was spent by Rally Forge on advertising, with not all of those marketing messages connected to the deception campaign, according to Facebook.</p>.<p>While not formally linked to the Trump campaign, Turning Point -- which says it is active at more than 1,500 universities across the country -- has organised events for the president.</p>
<p>Facebook on Thursday said it removed posts from campaign using fake accounts to praise US President Donald Trump as part of its latest crackdown on orchestrated deception.</p>.<p>The social network has banned US marketing firm Rally Forge, which coordinated the "inauthentic behaviour" on behalf of the pro-Trump youth group Turning Point USA and Inclusive Conservation Group, according to head of cybersecurity policy Nathaniel Gleicher.</p>.<p>Activity at the bogus accounts mostly involved commenting on news articles rather than posting their own content, according to Facebook.</p>.<p>Comments about trophy or sport hunting were aimed mostly at the US, and a bit at people in Kenya and Botswana, Gleicher said.</p>.<p>The campaign included criticism of the Democratic party and its presidential candidate former vice president Joe Biden and praise of Trump and the Republican party, according to Facebook.</p>.<p>The network appeared to have started its operations in 2018, having taken aim previously at the midterm elections in the US, the social network said.</p>.<p>Facebook removed 200 accounts and 55 pages at the social network and 76 Instagram accounts it said were part of the deception campaign and violated policy against coordinated inauthentic behaviour.</p>.<p>About 3,73,000 accounts followed one or more of the campaign's Facebook pages and around 22,000 people followed one or more of the Instagram accounts, according to the social network.</p>.<p><strong>Also read: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/seeking-civility-in-facebook-groups-ahead-of-us-presidential-election-897006.html" target="_blank">Seeking civility in Facebook groups ahead of US presidential election</a></strong></p>.<p>"Many of these accounts used stock profile photos and posed as right-leaning individuals from across the US," Facebook said.</p>.<p>In 2018, some of the accounts posed as people with left-leaning views to make comments about news articles or public figures.</p>.<p>Facebook's investigation into the network was triggered by <em>Washington Post</em> reports about some elements of the campaign, according to Gleicher.</p>.<p>"Although the people behind this network attempted to conceal their identities and coordination, our investigation linked this activity to Rally Forge," Gleicher said.</p>.<p>"Rally Forge is now banned from Facebook. We are continuing to investigate all linked networks, and will take action as appropriate if we determine they are engaged in deceptive behaviour."</p>.<p>Nearly a million dollars was spent by Rally Forge on advertising, with not all of those marketing messages connected to the deception campaign, according to Facebook.</p>.<p>While not formally linked to the Trump campaign, Turning Point -- which says it is active at more than 1,500 universities across the country -- has organised events for the president.</p>