JAKARTA: Facebook has shut down hundreds of accounts and pages linked to an Indonesian group accused of spreading hate speech and fake news, the company said Friday.
The world’s biggest social network said cyber group Saracen engaged in “coordinated abuse of the platform” by operating a network of hoax accounts that mislead online readers about who was behind them.
“The people behind this activity coordinated with one another and used fake accounts to misrepresent themselves, and that was the basis for our action,” Facebook’s head of cybersecurity policy Nathaniel Gleicher said in a statement.
Saracen gained infamy in Indonesia two years ago when police accused it of deliberately spreading untruths via social media.
At least one of its members was jailed following a wide-ranging investigation.
Indonesia is battling its own wave of online hate speech, as conservative groups exploit social media to spread lies and target minorities.
Authorities are worried inflammatory material posted online could crack open social and religious fault lines in the world’s largest Muslim-majority country ahead of presidential elections in April.
Some 800 Saracen-linked accounts, 207 pages, 546 groups and 208 Instagram accounts linked to the group have been yanked from the network, Gleicher said.
About 170,000 people followed at least one of the pages, and more than 65,000 followed at least one of the Instagram accounts.
The groups and accounts were shut down “based on their behavior, not the content they were posting,” Gleicher said.
Facebook has moved to stamp out efforts by state actors and others to manipulate the social network using fraudulent accounts.
The US firm began looking into these kinds of activities after revelations of Russian influence campaigns during the 2016 US election, aimed at sowing discord.
“We are constantly working to detect and stop this type of activity because we don’t want our services to be used to manipulate people,” Gleicher said.
Facebook has a fact-checking partnership with AFP in multiple countries.
Facebook bans accounts tied to Indonesian fake news group
Facebook bans accounts tied to Indonesian fake news group
- Indonesia is battling its own wave of online hate speech, as conservative groups exploit social media to spread lies and target minorities
- Some 800 Saracen-linked accounts, 207 pages, 546 groups and 208 Instagram accounts linked to the group have been banned
Paris exhibition marks 200 years of Le Figaro and the enduring power of the press
- The exhibition celebrated the bicentennial of Le Figaro, offering visitors a rare opportunity to step inside the newspaper’s vast historical archive
PARIS: One of France’s most influential newspapers marked a major milestone this month with a landmark exhibition beneath the soaring glass nave of the Grand Palais, tracing two centuries of journalism, literature and political debate.
Titled 1826–2026: 200 years of freedom, the exhibition celebrated the bicentennial of Le Figaro, offering visitors a rare opportunity to step inside the newspaper’s vast historical archive. Held over three days in mid-January, the free exhibition drew large crowds eager to explore how the title has both chronicled and shaped modern French history.
More than 300 original items were displayed, including historic front pages, photographs, illustrations and handwritten manuscripts. Together, they charted Le Figaro’s evolution from a 19th-century satirical publication into a leading national daily, reflecting eras of revolution, war, cultural change and technological disruption.
The exhibition unfolded across a series of thematic spaces, guiding visitors through defining moments in the paper’s past — from its literary golden age to its role in political debate and its transition into the digital era. Particular attention was paid to the newspaper’s long association with prominent writers and intellectuals, underscoring the close relationship between journalism and cultural life in France.
Beyond the displays, the program extended into live journalism. Public editorial meetings, panel discussions and film screenings invited audiences to engage directly with editors, writers and media figures, turning the exhibition into a forum for debate about the future of the press and freedom of expression.
Hosted at the Grand Palais, the setting itself reinforced the exhibition’s ambition: to place journalism firmly within the country’s cultural heritage. While the exhibition has now concluded, the bicentennial celebrations continue through special publications and broadcasts, reaffirming Le Figaro’s place in France’s public life — and the enduring relevance of a free and questioning press in an age of rapid change.
