Facebook has had its hands full, removing problematic accounts. This week, following an FBI tip, the social network took down accounts associated with the Internet Research Agency – a Russian-sponsored group that has sought to interfere with U.S. elections. Last month, a number of accounts associated with QAnon conspiracy theories were removed. But despite these well-publicized purges, Facebook continues to face withering criticism for the continued presence of content intended to mislead voters, and sometimes encourage violence.
Tech expert Omar Gallaga told Texas Standard that Facebook and Twitter have been plagued by accounts that seek to fool U.S. voters into spreading inaccurate information about candidates, or to believe untrue statement about those candidates that is often supplied by illegitimate news sources.
“In this case, Facebook says it caught, I think, 13 fake accounts and a couple of pages early, before they had really spread,” Gallaga said. “But you never know whether those have been duplicated or put somewhere else. … It’s always with Facebook, whack-a-mole.”
What you’ll hear in this segment:
– Why Facebook’s efforts to purge fake accounts haven’t satisfied critics
– What the company says it’s doing to assess election interference on its platform
– How reaction to a new law could result in Australians being unable to share news articles on Facebook
