Facebook deletes 652 fake accounts targeting world politics
San Francisco, Aug 22: Facebook has removed 652 fake accounts for "coordinated inauthentic behaviour" that originated in Iran and Russia and targeted people across multiple Internet services in the Middle East, Latin America, Britain and the US.
According to Facebook, some of the fake Pages, groups and accounts originated in Iran and some in Russia.
"We're still investigating, and we have shared what we know with the US and UK governments. Since there are US sanctions involving Iran, we've also briefed the US Treasury and State Departments," Nathaniel Gleicher, Head of Cybersecurity Policy at Facebook, said in a statement on Tuesday.
These sanctions allow companies to provide people Internet services for personal communications, including the government and its affiliates.
"But Facebook takes steps to prevent people in Iran and other sanctioned countries from using our ad tools," said Gleicher.
Facebook also removed Pages, groups and accounts that can be linked to sources the US government has previously identified as Russian military intelligence services.
"While these are some of the same bad actors we removed for cybersecurity attacks before the 2016 US election, this more recent activity focused on politics in Syria and Ukraine," Facebook said.
For example, these accounts are associated with Inside Syria Media Centre, which the Atlantic Council and other organisations have identified for covertly spreading pro-Russian and pro-Assad content.
"We're working closely with US law enforcement on this investigation, and we appreciate their help. These investigations are ongoing - and given the sensitivity we aren't sharing more information about what we removed," Facebook added.
Facebook acted on these accounts after FireEye, a global cybersecurity firm, gave it information in July about "Liberty Front Press", a network of Facebook Pages as well as accounts on other online services.
Based on FireEye's tip, Facebook started an investigation into "Liberty Front Press" and identified additional accounts and Pages from their network.
"We are able to link this network to Iranian state media through publicly available website registration information, as well as the use of related IP addresses and Facebook Pages sharing the same admins," Facebook informed.
The first "Liberty Front Press" accounts were created in 2013. Some of these attempted to conceal their location, and primarily posted political content focused on the Middle East, as well as the UK, US, and Latin America.
Beginning in 2017, they increased their focus on the UK and US.
Accounts and Pages linked to "Liberty Front Press" typically posed as news and civil society organisations sharing information in multiple countries without revealing their true identity, said Facebook.
Facebook recently deleted 32 Pages and accounts attempting to influence the US mid-term election
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Hazrat Nizamuddin-bound Vande Bharat Express gets delayed by 11 hours; passengers protest
Bhopal, Nov 25: High drama was witnessed at Rani Kamalapati railway station in Bhopal after the Vande Bharat Express for Hazrat Nizamuddin in Delhi was delayed on Monday by nearly 11 hours due to a technical snag, officials and eyewitnesses said.
Before the premium train, which otherwise departs from Rani Kamalapati station at 5.40 am, left for its destination in the evening, angry passengers staged a protest on railway tracks alleging they had not been intimated about the delay.
As a result of the delay, the Vande Bharat Express (20172) from Hazrat Nizamuddin to Rani Kamalapati station was cancelled on Monday evening. Similarly, the Vande Bharat Express (20171) from Kamalapati to Nizamuddin stands cancelled on Tuesday, Jabalpur-based West Central Railway (WCR) Chief Public Relation Officer Harshit Shrivastava told PTI when contacted over phone.
The semi-high speed train left for its destination in the evening instead of its scheduled time in the morning, WCR's Acting Public Relation Officer (Bhopal Division) Naval Agrawal confirmed to PTI.
Agrawal, however, maintained he does not know the exact departure time, but eyewitnesses said the train left for Hazrat Nizamuddin at around 4.30 pm, nearly 11 hours late.
The train was delayed due to technical reasons, he said, adding passengers were kept in the loop via different mediums, including train-related apps, about the delay.
Many passengers boarded the Vande Bharat Express (20171) headed to Nizamuddin, he said.
The Railways did not cancel the train on Monday keeping the interest of passengers in mind, the acting PRO emphasised.
Agrawal said the rail yard at Rani Kamalapati station (formerly Habibganj) was well equipped and has the expertise to repair and do maintenance work of the new-age Vande Bharat trains.
According to eyewitnesses, passengers who turned up at Rani Kamalapati station protested after the train did not depart for Hazrat Nizamuddin at its scheduled time of 5.40 am.
Some of the passengers, after a long wait, tried to entered the Shatabdi Express (which goes to New Delhi) at around 3.10 pm, but were pushed back by Railway Protection Force personnel, they said.
A group of angry passengers with backpacks then squatted on the tracks in protest, the eyewitnesses added.
The Vanda Bharat Express (20172), upon returning from Hazrat Nizamuddin to Rani Kamlaapati station at around 10.20 pm on Sunday, suffered a technical malfunction as a spring of C11 coach went kaput, sources said.
The train was taken to the yard for repair, but the snag could not be fixed in time, thus delaying its early morning departure, they explained.
वंदे भारत जैसी ट्रेनों का कोई भी मोबाइल एप्लिकेशन सही समय ही नहीं बतापा राहा है तो कैसी चलेगी रेलवे?? 8 hrs already delayed
— Ankit Swarnkar (@swarnkar_ankit) November 25, 2024
Train number 20171 Rani kamlapati to Hazrat Nizamuddin station @IRCTCofficial @AshwiniVaishnaw @ntes @irctcnorthzone pic.twitter.com/P9J7lyexW5
