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21:57 GMT
WASHINGTON, Aug 19 (KUNA) -- Social media platforms Twitter and Facebook announced Monday that they are disclosing "a significant state-backed information operation focused on the situation in Hong Kong, specifically the protest movement and their calls for political change."
Twitter said in a post that this disclosure consists of 936 accounts originating from China, and that "overall, these accounts were deliberately and specifically attempting to sow political discord in Hong Kong, including undermining the legitimacy and political positions of the protest movement on the ground."
"Based on our intensive investigations, we have reliable evidence to support that this is a coordinated state-backed operation," it added.
It stressed that "all the accounts have been suspended for a range of violations of our platform manipulation policies."
For its part, Facebook announced that it removed seven Pages, three Groups and five Facebook accounts "involved in coordinated inauthentic behavior as part of a small network that originated in China and focused on Hong Kong."
"We will continue monitoring and will take action if we find additional violations. We've shared our analysis with law enforcement and industry partners," it affirmed.
It stressed "we're constantly working to detect and stop this type of activity because we don't want our services to be used to manipulate people. We're taking down these Pages, Groups and accounts based on their behavior, not the content they posted."
"As with all of these takedowns, the people behind this activity coordinated with one another and used fake accounts to misrepresent themselves, and that was the basis for our action," it noted. (end)
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