Facebook removes fake accounts connected to Georgian pro-Russian party, one media entity
The Alliance of Patriots received 3.14 per cent of votes (4 mandates) in the October 31 parliamentary elections. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
Tweet 
Share
Facebook has removed dozens of inauthentic Facebook accounts, pages and groups connected with Georgian pro-Russian party Alliance of Patriots, political party Georgian Choice and media outlet Alt-Info.
Facebook says that the inauthentic network was detected with the help of local NGO International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED).
The accounts, pages and groups, which were targeted against the country’s pro-western orientation and parties were removed ahead of October 31 parliamentary elections.
We removed 54 Facebook accounts, 14 pages, two groups and 21 Instagram accounts linked to two political parties in Georgia — Alliance of Patriots and Georgian Choice. This activity originated in the country of Georgia and targeted domestic audiences in Georgia,” Facebook said.
Facebook stated that they removed 50 Facebook accounts, 49 pages, four groups, eight events and 19 Instagram accounts linked to Alt-Info, and banned the media outlet from Facebook.
Facebook pages run on servers located outside Georgia are running fake news on the new coronavirus outbreak on Georgian-language Facebook, a research by the state's Data Exchange Agency has revealed.
Facebook is launching its third-party fact-checking programme in Georgia with local organisations FactCheck Georgia and Myth Detector.
Facebook has plans to set strict criteria for political ads to ensure transparency in advertisements in the run-up to the October parliamentary elections in Georgia, a representative of the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) Mikheil Benidze says based on a letter received from Facebook.
Facebook has removed over 500 pages, more than 100 accounts as well as groups and Instagram profiles engaged in "coordinated inauthentic behaviour" via sharing misinformation about Georgia's domestic politics and the COVID-19 outbreak.
Georgian Public Defender Nino Lomjaria condemns the illegal acquisition and release of audio recordings allegedly involving Georgian opposition politicians, which were published by Ukrainian media outlet Obozrevatel on November 6.
Facebook deleted two dozen pages, 12 groups and more than 30 accounts from Georgia across its two platforms in March after "coordinated inauthentic behaviour" from their content was found to have links to the Georgian March ultranationalist party.
Facebook has deleted pages and groups associated with the Georgian-based pro-Russian media outlet Alt-Info on the backdrop of Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy has said.