Based on recent Coordinated Inauthentic Behaviour (CIB) report, Facebook has removed 40 Facebook accounts, 25 Pages, 6 Groups, and 28 Instagram accounts based in Pakistan used for spreading false propaganda
According to the recent CIB report of Facebook. A Pakistan based firm, AlphaPro, is found indulged in operating propaganda pages, believed to be backed by Pakistan's authority.
Facebook said:
Although the people behind it attempted to conceal their identities and coordination, our investigation found links to individuals associated with AlphaPro, a Pakistan-based PR firm.
As highlighted by Graphika report:
Key narratives advanced by the network included: praise for Pakistan and its armed forces; efforts to denigrate India and highlight attacks by Hindu nationalists targeting religious minorities; support for Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan; and promotion of the government-backed China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) investment project.
Facebook's Response
Facebook claimed that the network appeared to be active across multiple internet services and posted about news and current events in the region, including the ongoing global pandemic; criticism of India and its treatment of Muslims, particularly in the Kashmir region; and also supportive commentary about Pakistan. Some of this network’s Pages had been previously removed for Community Standards violations, including hate speech.
We found this activity as a result of our internal investigation into the suspected coordinated inauthentic behaviour with some links to the network we removed in April 2019. Our assessment benefited from information shared with us by researchers at Graphika. Although the people behind it attempted to conceal their identities and coordination, our investigation found links to individuals associated with AlphaPro, a Pakistan-based PR firm.
Graphika's Analysis on Anti-India Propaganda
According to Graphika's analysis, the sole purpose of these pages was to target the Indian Government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Several fake news is identified from the same pages over a period of four years. Most of the articles were concerned with fake propaganda stating Indian troops in J&K, giving communal angle to fights in India and New Delhi's isolation on the international forum which is obviously false information.
Multiple links were found between AlphaPro and Pakistan's Military's Inter-Service Public Relations (ISPR), as claimed by Graphika. ISPR is clearly mentioned as a client by AlphaPro on their website. An interesting coincidence exists when we say that four former and current AlphaPro employees were a part of ISPR before. AlphaPro is serving as a good retirement package for ISPR personnel on the basis of monetary gain that they have from ISPR.
Pakistan's Response
Chairman of Pakistan's Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir, Shehryar Khan Afridi directed the Chief of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to take legal action against Facebook over the steps taken against Pakistan.
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