Aaaand it's takedown time in #Bangladesh too.
@Twitter and @Facebook both just announced takedowns of a small number of inauthentic assets, possibly tied to state actors.
Some initial analysis with the great @karankanishk here, for @DFRLab:
medium.com/@DFRLab/electi…
@Twitter and @Facebook both just announced takedowns of a small number of inauthentic assets, possibly tied to state actors.
Some initial analysis with the great @karankanishk here, for @DFRLab:
medium.com/@DFRLab/electi…
Here's @TwitterSafety's take on it: a small number of assets, possibly state-linked.
15 accounts so far, low follower numbers, engaged in coordinated platform manipulation.
15 accounts so far, low follower numbers, engaged in coordinated platform manipulation.
And here's @fbnewsroom: six accounts, nine pages. Taken down for coordinated inauthentic behaviour, i.e. a network of counterfeit accounts.
"Linked to individuals associated with the #Bangladesh government."
newsroom.fb.com/news/2018/12/t…
"Linked to individuals associated with the #Bangladesh government."
newsroom.fb.com/news/2018/12/t…
Here are some of the highlights of the pages which got taken down.
Two impersonated @bbcbangla - note how here, they photoshopped the blue tick into the profile pic. (False page on the left. Compare with the genuine page, on the right.)
Two impersonated @bbcbangla - note how here, they photoshopped the blue tick into the profile pic. (False page on the left. Compare with the genuine page, on the right.)
They weren't very active, though. The last post on this one was November 14.
The engagement was so high it suggests bought amplification. The page only had about 640 followers.
The engagement was so high it suggests bought amplification. The page only had about 640 followers.
This one impersonated @banglatribune. Note the misplaced blue tick again, in an attempt at verisimilitude.
This one seemed to try to impersonate @samakaltw. Unclear whether calling it "shamakal" was meant to acknowledge it's a sham.
It didn't post, and only had 26 followers, anyway.
It didn't post, and only had 26 followers, anyway.
All three of these pages posted their first profile pics on November 10-11, and all used the same style before they updated them.
Other pages were more active, and had higher impact. This was the best performing, with over 6,000 followers.
Name was close to the genuine bdnews24.com.
Name was close to the genuine bdnews24.com.
It boosted its activity in the buildup to the elections.
This one seemed to hijack the logo of @banglanews24com, but didn't manage to build much of an audience. 635 followers.
Finally, this one was older than most (mid-2017), and had a couple of thousand followers, but went quiet in September.
Overall, not a high-impact operation, but important ahead of the election, and the potential state involvement.
Overall, not a high-impact operation, but important ahead of the election, and the potential state involvement.
