META (the owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp) removed 76 fake accounts and 30 Facebook pages, as well as 11 Instagram accounts of Russian origin, due to data fraud. According to the company's report, the target of this network of fake accounts is Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Posts shared by these accounts supported Russia and criticized the West. They supported the Foreign Agents Law in Georgia, criticized the West in Azerbaijan, and broadcast pro-Russian views and criticism of Prime Minister Pashinyan in Armenia.
According to the report, this network includes "fake" websites, such as "Georgia Today" (sakartvelo-today.org) in Georgia, "Yerli.Media" (yerlimedia.org) in Azerbaijan and "Lurer Media" (lurermedia.org) in Armenia. All of these sites are affiliated with Moscow-based marketing company IMA Digital.
According to META, these news sites are also present on various platforms such as YouTube, Telegram and TikTok. Despite the closure of their accounts on Facebook and Instagram, these sites continue to operate and broadcast "hot news" in Georgian, Armenian, Azerbaijani and Russian languages.
Information about the fake accounts was provided by the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED), which was detected by META's automated systems and blocked pending investigation.
