Twitter, Facebook target state-linked accounts made to manipulate

Facebook and Twitter have said they had blocked multiple government-backed manipulation operations around the world, several of which favoured US President Donald Trump, as part of a crackdown on state-sponsored propaganda efforts.

Twitter said on Friday it had blocked some 88,000 accounts linked to Saudi state-backed "information operations", in violation of its manipulation rules.

Separately, Facebook said on Friday it had blocked a network in Vietnam and the United States which posted pro-Trump messages aimed at US citizens, along with another network targeting domestic audiences in the country of Georgia.

It comes as social media giants have been struggling in the face of state-backed disinformation efforts, often using automated accounts or "bots" to manipulate the platforms, amplifying their own messages while disparaging opponents.

Most of the accounts blocked by Twitter on Friday were in Arabic and aimed at "amplifying messages favorable to Saudi authorities," but that some English language content was aimed at "Western audiences."
One dated November 11, 2016 showed a photo of billionaire George Soros -- a frequent target of conservatives -- and said Trump should put him "on the FBI most wanted list." Another from October 2016 showed a picture of former president Bill Clinton and said: "You don't even need these polls, Donald Trump won. You can read it on Bill Clinton's face."
"The BL-focused network repeatedly violated a number of our policies, including our policies against coordinated inauthentic behavior, spam and misrepresentation, to name just a few."