Facebook has suspended hundreds of accounts which the social media giant says were involved in anti-vax disinformation campaigns operated from Russia.
According to the BBC, Facebook said the network of accounts targeted India, Latin America and the United States, attempting to recruit influencers to spread false claims to undermine public confidence in particular Covid-19 vaccines.
Facebook said it had removed 65 Facebook accounts and 243 Instagram accounts for violating their policy against foreign interference.
Facebook said its investigation of ‘coordinated inauthentic behaviour’ found links between the network and a botched disinformation campaign from influencer marketing agency Fazze, which is part of a Russian-based company called AdNow.
Facebook said it had now banned Fazze from the platform.
The BBC said its own Trending investigation reported how in May this year influencers had been offered money by Fazze to spread false claims about the risks associated with the Pfizer vaccine.
According to Facebook, that was the second wave of attempts by the network to smear Western vaccines.
Their investigation found that in November 2020 the same network attempted to falsely paint the AstraZeneca vaccine as dangerous because it uses a harmless adenovirus taken from chimpanzees.
Posts from accounts in the network spread memes that used images from the Planet of Apes films to give the impression that the vaccine would turn people into monkeys.