Twitter has taken down 284 accounts originating from Iran, “for engaging in coordinated manipulation.”

Working with our industry peers today, we have suspended 284 accounts from Twitter for engaging in coordinated manipulation. Based on our existing analysis, it appears many of these accounts originated from Iran. — Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) August 22, 2018

“Facebook said it had removed 254 Facebook pages and 116 Instagram accounts that originated in Iran and were part of a disinformation campaign that targeted countries around the world, including the U.S. and Britain.”

techcrunch.com has made an extensive presentation of the operation.

These suspensions are not unconnected to the US midterms 2018.

Beyond the apparent reasons given by Facebook and Twitter, there appear to be concerted efforts at preventing Russia and Iran or groups therein or affiliated from meddling in the upcoming US midterm elections.

techcrunch.com has noted that “few or none of [of the targeted websites]… were focused on manipulating the 2018 midterm elections…in the [United] States, but rather had a variety of topics and apparent goals. The common theme is certainly attempting to sway political opinion…”

Outside of the questions of sovereignty, for which the actions of Twitter and Facebook can be seen as largely praiseworthy, this issue is quite controversial as it touches on free speech.

Russia’s role in the presidential elections of 2016 has provided a precedent that justifies actions, whether undertaken by private or public persons, geared towards protecting the conduct of US elections.