Facebook has taken down fake accounts after it uncovered "sophisticated" attempts at political influence ahead of the US midterm elections.

The social media giant confirmed on its website on Tuesday that it has "removed 32 pages and accounts from Facebook and Instagram because they were involved in co-ordinated inauthentic behaviour".

Facebook added that those who set up the fake accounts went to "much greater lengths to obscure their true identities than the Russian-based Internet Research Agency (IRA) has in the past".

The company has been unable to tie the accounts to Russia, who US officials say used the platform to spread disinformation ahead of the 2016 US presidential election.

The tech giant did say "some of the activity is consistent" with that of the Internet Research Agency - the Russian troll farm that managed many false Facebook accounts used to influence the 2016 vote.


Facebook said it had briefed US law enforcement agencies, congress and other tech companies about the latest accounts it has deleted.

The company is working with the FBI on the findings, The New York Times reports.

Image: Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg came under fire earlier in 2018 after a data leak was exposed

Facebook said those behind the campaign had been "more careful to cover their tracks", adding: "We've found evidence of some connections between these accounts and IRA accounts we disabled last year (...) but there are differences too."

The company said more than 290,000 accounts followed at least one of the fake pages, with the earliest having been created in March 2017.

The most followed were "Aztlan Warriors," "Black Elevation", "Mindful Being" and "Resisters".

The Resisters page enlisted support from real followers for an August protest in Washington against the far-right "Unite the Right" group.

I’m very concerned that Russia will be fighting very hard to have an impact on the upcoming Election. Based on the fact that no President has been tougher on Russia than me, they will be pushing very hard for the Democrats. They definitely don’t want Trump! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 24 July 2018

Citing unnamed sources, The New York Times reported that other "co-ordinated" activity revolved around #AbolishICE, a left-wing campaign against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

Facebook's statement reads: "This kind of behaviour is not allowed on Facebook because we don't want people or organisations creating networks of accounts to mislead others about who they are, or what they're doing.

"We're still in the very early stages of our investigation and don't have all the facts - including who may be behind this.

"But we are sharing what we know today given the connection between these bad actors and protests that are planned in Washington next week."

Image: Vladimir Putin's Russia has been accused of trying to sway the 2016 presidential election in the US

Facebook has deleted the fake accounts after suffering the worst single-day evaporation of market value for any company, after missing revenue forecasts for the second quarter and offering soft growth projections.

Mark Zuckerberg's firm says the slowdown will come in part due to its new approach to privacy and security - one which helped experts uncover these so-called "bad actors".

Their statement reads: "We face determined, well-funded adversaries who will never give up and are constantly changing tactics.

"It's an arms race and we need to constantly improve too.

"It's why we're investing heavily in more people and better technology to prevent bad actors misusing Facebook - as well as working much more closely with law enforcement and other tech companies to better understand the threats we face."

The US President Donald Trump, whose 2016 presidential campaign is being investigated over possible collusion with Russia, tweeted on Tuesday 24 June that he is "very concerned that Russia will be fighting very hard to have an impact on the upcoming Election".

He added: "Based on the fact that no President has been tougher on Russia than me, they will be pushing very hard for the Democrats.

"They definitely don't want Trump!"