ISFED names fake news websites, social media accounts which might manipulate voters
ISFED said the fake news webpages damage the media environment in the country and create risks of electoral manipulation in social media ahead of elections. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge
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International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED), one of the key Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) in Georgia, said that it has identified 14 fake news websites, 15 Facebook accounts, 50 pages and 35 groups spreading disinformation.
ISFED said it identified the coordinated Facebook pages, groups and accounts promoting “pro-governmental messages”, “demonising critical mind” and discrediting opposition six months ahead of the parliamentary elections in Georgia.
Considering the clear political agenda of the fake news webpages, they damage the media environment in the country and create risks of electoral manipulation in social media ahead of the elections”, ISFED stated on April 30.
It further noted that the websites follow the common tactics in social media: at first information is published on the websites, then posted on the respective Facebook pages, and afterwards shared to Facebook groups to reach a wide audience and gain further credibility.
Below is the part of the fake news websites recently reported by ISFED:
Last December, Facebook has removed 39 accounts, 344 pages and 13 groups for “coordinated inauthentic behaviour” in Georgia targeting domestic audiences, noting that that the Facebook team is “constantly working to detect and stop this type of activity” because they don’t want their services to be used to manipulate people.
The Georgian Foreign Ministry has stated that on October 28, 2019, the Russian General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) Main Center for Special Technologies carried out a ‘widespread, disruptive cyber attack’ against web pages and servers of Georgian governmental agencies, court and media organisations.“The attack caused serious damage to the web pages and servers. The cyberattack aimed to undermine Georgia’s national security, harming the Georgian population, disrupting the functioning of government agencies, as well as various organizations, and stirring commotion in public."
In a statement released on December 20, Nathaniel Gleicher, the Head of Facebook’s security policy, explained that the people behind this activity used fake accounts to increase engagement on their content and manage pages.
Hacker attacks have been carried out against 2,000 websites including that of the President of Georgia, Courts of Georgia, NGOs, local self-governments and private organizations. Hacker attack victim sites are mainly hosted on the Proservice server. The company says that “this is a global flow and they are working to eliminate and fix the problem”.
Facebook pages created for Georgia were among nearly 300 taken down by the platform on Thursday for misleading users about their origin and purpose while serving social media reach for Sputnik, a Kremlin media outlet.
The Democracy Research Institute has summarised the results of 11-month long monitoring of far-right groups disclosure on social platforms and online media, which revealed that nationalistic and anti-liberal content is especially popular among them. Nationalistic content is particularly characteristic for the following Facebook pages - ‘Turkey is an Occupier’, ‘Silenced Georgians’ and ‘Kardhu’, while anti-liberal content is popular among the followers of the pages - ‘Anti-liberal League’, ‘Alt-Club’ and ‘Geo Pepe.’
A study into how information is acquired by citizens of Georgia, as well as their attitudes to its sources, says the local information ecosystem is "rich and plural", however "many challenges" remain in the field.