【Watch Climax Online】

Facebook announced on Watch Climax OnlineWednesday that it's removing accounts based in Iran that targeted users in the United States.

In the official statement posted by Nathaniel Gleicher on Wednesday, Facebook's head of security policy, the company outlined the "three unconnected networks of accounts, Pages and Groups" they removed for violating the platform's policy for "coordinated inauthentic behavior on behalf of a government or foreign actor" across both Facebook and Instagram.

• Removed six Facebook accounts and five Instagram accounts as part of an operation out of Iran that focused mainly on the U.S.

• Removed 78 Facebook accounts, 11 Pages, 29 Groups, and four Instagram accounts as part of an operation out of Russia that primarily targeted Ukraine and its neighboring countries

• Removed 13 Facebook accounts and 10 Pages as part of an operation out of Myanmar and Vietnam that targeted audiences in Myanmar

To be honest, none of these are surprising. The flagging of an Iran operation makes total sense given the escalating tensions between that country and the U.S. prompted by the assassination of Iranian general Qassim Suleimani in early January.

---

You May Also Like

---

---

One of the posts by Iranian-based bad actors flagged by Facebook Credit: Screenshot / Facebook

It's also worth noting that this sort of action by Iran has been going on for years, pre-dating the recent exchange of missile strikes. Microsoft has been battling Iran-based hackers for at least a year and felt strongly enough about it to warn the public about it last fall.

Meanwhile, the Russian-Ukraine disinformation campaign, the largest of the three outlined in this new report, has been ongoing — yet another game of whack-a-mole Facebook has been playing with Russia since the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

A post from Russian actors aimed at Ukraine in a campaign of disinformation Credit: Screenshot / Facebook

The same goes for Myanmar, where Facebook and its platforms have been leveraged "by bad actors to spread anti-Muslim, anti-Rohingya, and anti-activist sentiment," according to a 2018 report from the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar.

A Myanmar-related post run by several accounts aimed at disinformation Credit: Screenshot / Facebook

While the Iran take-down might garner the most attention because of recent events, it was the smallest of the active groups. In his post, Gleicher notes that "about 60 people followed one or more of these Instagram accounts."

SEE ALSO: Sad internet man Ted Cruz tells Twitter to ban Iran's Supreme Leader

As for the Russian take-down, Gleicher writes, "500 accounts followed one or more of these Pages, about 6,150 accounts joined at least one of these Groups and around 100 people followed one or more of these Instagram accounts."

The Myanmar operation seems to be the biggest of all three. At least one of the Pages taken down had around 265,000 followers and Facebook accounted for approximately "$1,155,000 in spending for ads on Facebook paid for in US dollars and Vietnamese dong."

With another presidential election race already well underway, get ready for even more of these types of reports.

Topics Cybersecurity Facebook Politics

• Digital Culture
• Deals
• Tech
• Entertainment
• Science
• Life
• Social Good
• Games

• NYT Strands hints, answers for May 5
• 10 of the hottest Samsung Note7 costumes this Halloween
• Apple gives the world what it needs, a facepalm emoji
• Tom Hanks is dressing up as David Pumpkins for Halloween. Any questions?
• Camera lenses literally melted during the solar eclipse
• Dad tweets about the struggles of parenting on Halloween
• iPhone 8 might come with wireless charging
• This dog dropped the mic on all other 'Harry Potter' costumes
• 'The Last of Us' Season 2, episode 5: The spores are here!
• Please enjoy this Vine of Ricky Gervais dressed as a pumpkin

• Comedian shuts down racist audience member in the most beautiful way
• You might not know it, but this Kiwi city is a total street art wonderland
• Tinder's new gender options have led to matches for 250,000 trans people
• Fans may have guessed J.K. Rowling's next book title
• Google Scholar might finally be Google's way back into China
• An intense cold snap turned this waterfront home into a striking ice castle
• Here's your first look at Telltale's 'Guardians of the Galaxy' game
• A woman confronted Sean Spicer at an Apple Store and livestreamed the whole thing
• iPhone 8 expected to dominate Galaxy S8 in the smartphone market
• This YouTuber is the realest damn thing to happen to 'beauty vlogging'

• Android Performance Tips and Tweaks
• Man becomes legend by running entire marathon in Eiffel Tower costume
• Oh, just pictures of Justin Trudeau and his family on Halloween
• iPhone 8 might come with wireless charging
• Nvidia DLSS: An Early Investigation
• iPhone bedtime mode will help you get your sleep schedule on track
• Paul Pierce dressed up as Rick James for Halloween during an actual game
• Future car displays will let drivers point at the windscreen and swipe to select the next song
• Best robot vacuum deal: Save $400 on the roborock Q5 Pro+
• Study finds racial discrimination by Uber and Lyft drivers

• Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K deal: Get 40% off
• Twitter India head Rishi Jaitly quits company
• Watch Felix the hero duck save a chicken from a hawk
• 10 books that helped Colson Whitehead write 'The Underground Railroad'
• Productivity Boost: Enable 'Night Mode' on All Your Devices
• 2 billion children are breathing toxic air, UNICEF reports
• Someone drove through this sign so people dressed it up for Halloween
• Child's telephone pole costume is a Halloween triumph
• Musetti vs. Diallo 2025 livestream: Watch Madrid Open for free
• Fisker is back and ready to take on Tesla with a new self