IRAN — Facebook released a statement saying they have removed hundreds of accounts and pages after they were found spreading misinformation on the social networking site.<br /><br />Facebook says FireEye, a cybersecurity firm, alerted them about the Iranian accounts and pages.<br /><br />The Iranian efforts date back to 2011 and involved Facebook and Instagram.It eventually expanded to Twitter and Youtube as well, reports The Washington Post.<br /><br />Facebook says it removed a total of 652 pages, accounts, and groups which were linked to Iran.<br /><br />Facebook claims some of the accounts were linked to Iran's state-owned media.<br /><br />Apparently, the fake Iranian accounts used Facebook to organize events and purchase ads on the website.<br /><br />The accounts included themes such as "anti-Saudi, anti-Israeli, and pro-Palestinians." <br /><br />They also seemed to advocate policies that were favorable to Iran.<br /><br />Twitter said it had removed 284 accounts for "coordinated manipulation," saying the accounts appeared to have originated from Iran.<br /><br />According to reports from The Independent, the fake accounts were found to target users specifically in the US, UK, Latin America and the Middle East.
