Facebook Deletes 700+ Indian and Pakistani Accounts, Including Those Linked to Pakistan Military

Facebook has deleted at least 712 Indian and Pakistani accounts and 390 pages for “inauthentic behavior,” including over 100 reportedly linked to the Pakistani military.

According to Reuters, many of the accounts and pages were “linked to India’s opposition Congress party days before a general election,” while many others were “related to Pakistan’s military.”

“Among the most significant things it has removed, Facebook said it had taken down 549 accounts and 138 pages linked to India’s Congress for ‘coordinated inauthentic behavior’. Facebook said it also banned 15 accounts linked to an Indian company named Silver Touch,” Reuters reported. “In Pakistan, Facebook removed 57 accounts, 24 pages, seven groups and 15 Instagram accounts, also for inauthentic behavior, as part of a network which originated in Pakistan and was linked to employees of a unit of the Pakistani military.”

Reuters further reported that the social network removed “103 pages, groups and accounts that were part of a network it said was linked to employees of the Pakistani military’s public relations arm.”

In a statement, Facebook cybersecurity head Nathaniel Gleicher declared, “Today we removed 103 pages, Groups and accounts for engaging in coordinated inauthentic behaviour on Facebook and Instagram as part of a network that originated in Pakistan.”

“Although the people behind this activity attempted to conceal their identities, our investigation found that it was linked to employees of the ISPR (Inter-Service Public Relations) of the Pakistani military,” Gleicher claimed. “We’re taking down these pages and accounts based on their behaviour, not the content they posted.”