Facebook Security has revealed more of how the company has begun to combat the spread of propaganda and “fake news,” acknowledging for the first time that the company tracked a campaign that attempted to influence the 2016 US presidential campaign. Facebook began to fight “fake news” posts (sort of) earlier this year when the company introduced a “disputed” label that is now being added to some shared stories of questionable provenance. But the company has also launched a less-visible effort to clamp down on “false amplification” of propaganda efforts on its social media platform.
During the 2016 presidential campaign, Facebook Security team members monitored a number of activities that “we assessed to fit the pattern of information operations,” according to a paper published by the company last week. The paper, authored by Facebook Security’s Jen Weedon, William Nuland, and Facebook Chief Security Officer Alex Stamos—entitled “Information Operations and Facebook”—acknowledges that Facebook accounts were used as part of a coordinated effort to spread misinformation and influence the shape of political conversations. Facebook did not attempt to attribute the campaign to a specific party.
Working as a cyber security solutions architect, Alisa focuses on application and network security. Before joining us she held a cyber security researcher positions within a variety of cyber security start-ups. She also experience in different industry domains like finance, healthcare and consumer products.
