The company Meta announced the removal of a network of fake accounts whose content was aimed at Russian-speaking residents of Moldova, due to involvement in the spread of disinformation.
This is stated in the Meta message, which is quoted by “European Truth”.
The deleted network had seven accounts, 23 pages, one group on Facebook, and 20 accounts on Instagram, and it originated mainly in the Transnistrian region of Moldova. She worked under the names “Trash Kich”, “Moldavskiy krot”, “Insider Moldova”, and “Gagauziya on the Air”.
To manage these pages, the attackers behind the network used fake accounts whose photos were generated by artificial intelligence.
The network distributed “original content, including cartoons, about news and geopolitical events related to Moldova.” Many of the messages were allegedly reprints from the real point.md news site, but with a “clear pro-Russian and anti-European bias.”
Among other things, they published criticism of President Maia Sandu, pro-European politicians and close ties between Moldova and Romania, as well as comments in support of pro-Russian Moldovan parties, such as the political projects of fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor.
In addition, Facebook and Instagram users were encouraged with money and gifts for subscribing to the network’s pages and accounts.
“Our investigation identified links to individuals from Russia and Moldova operating in the Transnistrian region… We also identified some limited links between these activities and a network from Luhansk Oblast in Ukraine, which we removed in December 2020,” they say in Meta.
In early October, the Moldovan authorities announced that they had uncovered a Russian-backed operation involving 130,000 citizens of the country, the purpose of which was to influence the vote during the referendum on joining the European Union.
“Europeyska Pravda” has already told how Russia has concentrated unprecedented efforts in Moldova, as well as financial resources for a hybrid and disinformation campaign.
Українська правда
