Facebook Bans 'Surveillance-For-Hire' Companies That Spied on 50,000 Users

Facebook (now known as Meta) has banned seven “Surveillance-For-Hire” companies that it claims spied on 50,000 users including human rights activists, government critics, celebrities, journalists, and more in over 100 countries.

NPR reports that Facebook’s parent company, Meta, has banned seven firms that it claims used its platforms to spy on 50,000 unsuspected targets. The companies were branded as “surveillance-for-hire” firms that were linked to around 1,500 accounts on Facebook and Instagram used to spy on human rights activists, government critics, celebrities, journalists, and more.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is applauded as he delivers the opening keynote introducing new Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram privacy features at the Facebook F8 Conference at McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California on April 30, 2019. – Got a crush on another Facebook user? The social network will help you connect, as part of a revamp unveiled Tuesday that aims to foster real-world relationships and make the platform a more intimate place for small groups of friends. (Photo by Amy Osborne / AFP) (Photo credit should read AMY OSBORNE/AFP/Getty Images)

The aim of the surveillance operations was to trick people into handing over personal information so that the firm could install spyware on their devices, according to a report released by Facebook.

Nathaniel Gleicher, the internet giant’s head of security policy, told NPR: “Each of these actors rely on networks of fake accounts on our platforms that are used to deceive users and mislead them.” Some firms also used WhatsApp, also owned by Facebook, to attempt to infect targets’ phones. Surveillance was also carried out over other internet services including email, text message, Twitter, and YouTube. Gleicher stated that the goal was to “spy on people or snoop on them without them knowing about it.”

Spyware is a growing problem for tech firms. Facebook and Apple have both sued the Israel-based NGO Group over the development of its Pegasus software which has been linked to hacks and potential surveillance of thousands of people. But Meta has noted that NSO “is only one piece of a much broader global mercenary ecosystem.”

One of the firms recently banned from Facebook is Black Cube, an Israel-based intelligence group that Facebook claims created fake accounts posing as graduate students, human rights workers, and film and TV producers to lure in targets. Black Cube told NPR in a statement that it “does not undertake any phishing or hacking and does not operate in the cyber world.” The company claimed that it is a “litigation support firm” using legal investigation methods.