Earlier today, Facebook turned on a feature that showed information about Pages including:
- date of creation
- number of admins
- location of admins
- name changes.
This allowed us to confirm that many pro-Trump pages are run from outside the US. [threaaaad]
- date of creation
- number of admins
- location of admins
- name changes.
This allowed us to confirm that many pro-Trump pages are run from outside the US. [threaaaad]
Facebook says they accidentally launched the feature early, we noticed they disabled it right after we inquired about it.
But! We still grabbed some screenshots.
But! We still grabbed some screenshots.
What we noticed is that many pages have admins overseas. InfoWars, for example, has someone in Switzerland. YourNewsWire, a site that spreads a lot of fakes, has an admin in Qatar.
buzzfeed.com/janelytvynenko…
buzzfeed.com/janelytvynenko…
But it's not just Trump pages.
Native American, health, and Black Lives Matter pages that sold merch were also run in part from places far away from the US.
Native American, health, and Black Lives Matter pages that sold merch were also run in part from places far away from the US.
Some of the pages were run both in the US and places like India, Macedonia, and the Philippines, suggesting that there's people pay remote workers to produce cheap content.
(We asked a couple of page owners about the information Facebook showed and it *seems* like it's IP address-based, not self-disclosure.)
This feature is meant to be part of Facebook's transparency initiative, and it will return "in the coming weeks" according to FB.
What this little glimpse shows us is that we have no idea where our content is coming from. As @profcarroll points out, Americans are profitable.
What this little glimpse shows us is that we have no idea where our content is coming from. As @profcarroll points out, Americans are profitable.
There will no doubt be a rush to use this feature once it's back up. In the meantime, you can see the full story and our examples here:
buzzfeed.com/janelytvynenko…
buzzfeed.com/janelytvynenko…
Here's also a thread from CNN's @donie with the pages he managed to grab:
As always, if you notice something weird on the internet, my DMs are open and my email is jane.lytvynenko@buzzfeed.com
Also, please don't share sketchy content online.
Also, please don't share sketchy content online.
Sorry! Added a correction to the story: the feature shows page managers, not just admins.
