SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. said on Tuesday that they each removed about 300 accounts, mostly originating in Iran, that were found to be engaged in coordinated “inauthentic behavior.”
The social media companies acted on a tip from cybersecurity firm FireEye Inc, which said on Tuesday that the accounts were promoting Iranian propaganda, including discussion of “anti-Saudi, anti-Israeli and pro-Palestinian themes.”
“We’ve removed 652 Pages, groups and accounts for coordinated inauthentic behavior that originated in Iran and targeted people across multiple Internet services in the Middle East, Latin America, UK and US,” Nathaniel Gleicher, head of cybersecurity policy at Facebook, said in a blog post.
Twitter called the effort “coordinated manipulation.”
The influence effort, as FireEye described it, began last year and continued through this month, the company said in a blog post.
“However, it is important to note that the activity does not appear to have been specifically designed to influence the 2018 US midterm elections, as it extends well beyond US audiences and US politics,” FireEye said.
The account removals comes weeks after Facebook took down accounts originating in Russia for engaging in deceiving behavior. The company said on Tuesday that it found additional inauthentic behavior tied to Russia, but that the activity does not appear linked to the campaign tied to Iran.
Facebook, Twitter remove pages promoting Russian and Iranian propaganda
Facebook, Twitter remove pages promoting Russian and Iranian propaganda
- The account removals comes weeks after Facebook took down accounts originating in Russia for engaging in deceiving behavior
- Twitter called the effort “coordinated manipulation”
Apple, Google offer app store changes under new UK rules
LONDON: Apple and Google have pledged changes to ensure fairness in their app stores, the UK competition watchdog said Tuesday, describing it as “first steps” under its tougher regulation of technology giants.
The Competition and Markets Authority placed the two companies under “strategic market status” last year, giving it powers to impose stricter rules on their mobile platforms.
Apple and Google have submitted packages of commitments to improve fairness and transparency in their app stores, which the CMA is now consulting market participants on.
The proposals cover data collection, how apps are reviewed and ranked and improved access to their mobile operating systems.
They aim to prevent Apple and Google from giving priority to their own apps and to ensure businesses receive fairer terms for delivering apps to customers, including better access to tools to compete with services like the Apple digital wallet.
“These are important first steps while we continue to work on a broad range of additional measures to improve Apple and Google’s app store services in the UK,” said CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell.
The commitments mark the first changes proposed by US tech giants in response to the UK’s digital markets regulation, which came into force last year.
The UK framework is similar to a tech competition law from the European Union, the Digital Markets Act, which carries the potential for hefty financial penalties.
“The commitments announced today allow Apple to continue advancing important privacy and security innovations for users and great opportunities for developers,” an Apple spokesperson said.
The CMA in October found that Apple and Google held an “effective duopoly,” with around 90 to 100 percent of UK mobile services running on their platforms.
A Google spokesperson said existing practices in its Play online store are “fair, objective and transparent.”
“We welcome the opportunity to resolve the CMA’s concerns collaboratively,” they added.
The changes are set to take effect in April, subject to the outcome of a market consultation.
