Sprawling disinformation networks discovered across Europe ahead of EU elections

Avaaz says that disinformation being spread across Facebook includes a fake viral video seen by ten million people which supposedly shows migrants in Italy destroying a police car (it was actually from a movie and debunked years ago); a story in Poland claiming that migrant taxi drivers rape European women, including a fake image; and fake news about a child cancer center being closed down by Catalan separatists in Spain.

In total, Avaaz reported more than 500 suspicious pages and groups to Facebook. Together, they were followed by 32 million people and generated 67 million “interactions” (comments, likes, shares) in the last three months alone. As a result of Avaaz investigation, Facebook took down 77 pages and 230 accounts from Germany, U.K., France, Italy, Spain, and Poland — accounting for the biggest known takedown of Facebook pages before the EU elections.

Schott added: “Millions of Europeans will cast their votes this week after being exposed to toxic lies without knowing it. Facebook responded quickly to our investigation and shut these networks down, but it’s nowhere near enough. Facebook should make sure everyone who saw this disinformation receives an urgent correction, and stop their algorithms promoting this poison.”

Avaaz said that the investigation is part of the organization’s campaign to fight the spread of disinformation ahead of the EU elections.

Among the report’s findings:

·  Disinformation networks removed by Facebook as a result of this investigation posted content viewed an estimated half a billion (533M) times over the last three months. This means that, on average, these networks produced content that was seen almost 6 million times per day.

·  In total, Avaaz reported over 500 suspect pages and groups to Facebook, which were followed by nearly 32 million people and generated over 67 million “interactions” (comments, likes, shares) in the last three months alone.

·  Facebook has already taken down 77 of the pages and groups reported, accounting for about 20% of all interactions across the reported networks.

·  Together, the pages removed had almost three times more followers (5.9 million) than the pages of the main European far-right and anti-EU parties, League, AfD, VOX, Brexit Party, Rassemblement National and PiS, combined (2 million).

The report focuses on two main aspects of disinformation on Facebook. Firstly, it exposes pages, accounts and groups that are spreading “disinformation content,” classified as false or purposefully misleading information. Secondly, it identifies networks that are using “disinformation tactics,” such as the systematic usage of fake accounts, misleading page name changes, or inauthentic coordination to amplify content in a way that appears to breach the social media platform’s own policies. The report then define “disinformation networks” as groups of pages either spreading “disinformation content,” using “disinformation tactics,” or doing both. All the pages were reported to Facebook between April and early May 2019.

After demonstrating the scope of these disinformation networks, this report showcases real world examples: from fake accounts amplifying AfD content in Germany to pages spreading disinformation and white supremacist content in France, to dozens of pages created with generic themes in Italy to attract followers which are then turned into pro-League and 5 Star fake-news sharing pages.

Key findings include:

In Germany, fake accounts and pages were boosting the reach of the far-right AfD party and spreading disinformation on Facebook. The report found an AfD politician who appears to have been involved in running inauthentic multiple accounts to amplify the AfD message. The report also found illegal content on Facebook, including swastikas and posts supporting Holocaust-deniers. Over 131 suspicious accounts reported and eight pages/groups have already been removed by Facebook.

In France, 44 pages and groups were identified: one network spreading disinformation, and others posting dehumanizing, racist and white nationalist content, targeting migrants in particular. The main white nationalist page has already been removed by Facebook and three have been demoted for repeatedly spreading disinformation.

In Italy, 14 networks were discovered, many supporting the League and 5 Star movement, which spread either false information or content with divisive anti-migration and hateful messages ahead of the EU elections. Facebook shut down 23 pages with over 2.46 million followers as a result of Avaaz’s findings.

In the UK, the report identified three networks engaging in what Avaaz reported as suspect spam behavior to boost low-trust websites, and another set of pages and groups in open support of dangerous individuals and groups banned by Facebook, such as Tommy Robinson.1 The report also identified numerous duplicate and fake profiles operating on the latter. Facebook has already removed 132 posts, pages and groups reported to them

In Poland, three networks were found to be spreading, with great frequency and coordination, across almost 200 pages and groups, divisive content covering a range of anti-immigration and anti-EU topics as well as false and misleading information. Facebook has removed 27 Polish pages with 1.9 million followers.

In Spain, three far-right networks were discovered spreading disinformation and hateful content. Most of the pages were supporting the far-right Vox party and were mainly managed by fake or duplicate accounts. Facebook removed 17 pages with 1.43 million followers days before Spain’s national elections in April.

— Read more in Far-Right Network of Deception (Avaaz, 22 May 2019)