New Delhi: In a major development, Facebook on Friday said it has banned hundreds of accounts that shared links with Russian disinformation network that claimed Covid vaccines developed by drugmakers Pfizer and AstraZeneca can turn people into chimpanzees. It must be noted that the network originated in Russia and targeted users primarily in India, Latin America and in the US.Also Read - Andhra Pradesh Covid-19 Curfew Extended Till THIS Date | Check Details
As per reports, Facebook has banned over 300 misinformation accounts over the matter. The reports also claimed that the disinformation network initially posted memes and comments, in November and December 2020, claiming that the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine would turn people into chimpanzees after which it became inactive. However, the network after a gap of five months surfaced again in May 2021 and questioned the safety of the Pfizer vaccine. Also Read - Karnataka School Reopening: Classes 9-12 to Resume in Districts Reporting Less Than 2% Cases
“We removed 65 Facebook accounts and 243 Instagram accounts for violating our policy against foreign interference, which is coordinated inauthentic behaviour on behalf of a foreign entity. This network operated across over a dozen platforms and forums but failed to build an audience. Our investigation found links between this campaign and Fazze. Fazze is now banned from our platform,” said Ben Nimmo, Global IO Threat Intelligence Lead, and the IO Threat Intelligence Team at Facebook, in the report.