Facebook and Twitter removed two anti-Ukrainian “covert influence operations” over the weekend, one tied to Russia and another with connections to Belarus, the companies said.
One of the operations, a propaganda campaign featuring a website pushing anti-Ukraine talking points, was an offshoot of a known Russian disinformation operation. A Facebook spokesperson said it used computer-generated faces to bolster the credibility of fake columnists across several platforms, including Instagram.
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The other campaign used hacked accounts to push similar anti-Ukraine propaganda and was tied to a known Belarusian hacking group.
Disinformation experts warned that Russia is expected to continue to try to manipulate narratives about Ukraine — mostly notably around the claims made by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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Access to Facebook and Twitter servers in Russia, meanwhile, has become restricted this weekend, the London-based internet monitor NetBlocks reports, either preventing the sites from loading at all or loading so slowly they are "largely unusable." Russian telecoms regulator Roskomnadzor on Friday had announced plans to “partially restrict” access to Facebook.
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