The accounts suspended by Facebook for being inauthentic on July 31 sought to exacerbate divisions and set Americans against one another.

It is too early to attribute them, but an initial scan shows behavioral patterns and use of language reminiscent of the troll operations run from Russia in 2014 through 2017.

Facebook shared eight pages with @DFRLab 24 hours before the takedown. This post gives an initial description of their open-source, publicly visible features, focused on those which suggested a lack of authenticity or a resemblance to earlier troll operations.

@DFRLab will analyze the accounts in more detail in the coming days.

Background: Inauthentic And Coordinated

False information and online polarization are on the rise in the United States. While countless factors are driving both organically among Americans, covert influence campaigns, some steered from abroad, are using disinformation to drive Americans further apart, and weaken the trust in the institutions on which democracy stands.

On July 31, Facebook announced the removal of around 30 pages and accounts on its platform for “coordinated and inauthentic behavior.” In an announcement depicting actions taken on their platform, Facebook representatives explained:

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. We will update this post with more details when we have them, or if the facts we have change. It’s clear that whoever set up these accounts went to much greater lengths to obscure their true identities than the Russian-based Internet Research Agency (IRA) has in the past.

Facebook concluded, based on internal data, that the accounts were “inauthentic,” and did not represent the individuals and groups they claimed to. @DFRLab has not had access to that data; however, our team has been poring over the specific pages Facebook took action against over the last 24 hours.

@DFRLab’s mission is to identify, expose, and explain disinformation. Our goal is to create more digital resilience against influence operations like those Russia mounted against the United States during 2016 elections. As such, we intend to make every aspect of our research broadly available, just as soon as we have had a chance to analyze the accounts. The effort is part of our #ElectionWatch work and a broader initiative to provide independent and credible research about the role of social media in elections, as well as democracy more generally.

This post provides an initial overview of the pages. Subsequent posts will focus on thematic trends and the behavior patterns exhibited in more detail.

Initial Findings

The pattern of behavior by the accounts and on the pages in question make one thing abundantly clear: they sought to promote divisions and set Americans against one another.

Their approach, tactics, language, and content were, in some instances, very similar to accounts run by the Russian “troll farm” or Internet Research Agency between 2014 and 2017.

Similarities included language patterns that indicate non-native English and consistent mistranslation, as well as an overwhelming focus on polarizing issues at the top of any given news cycle with content that remained emotive rather than fact-based.

The set of accounts appeared, however, to use much stronger operational security. They maintained a focus on building an online audience then translating it to produce events — such as protests — in the real world. Further, this specific set of accounts was focused exclusively at engaging and influencing the left end of the American political spectrum.

Of note, the events coordinated by — or with help from — inauthentic accounts did have a very real, organic, and engaged online community; however, the intent of the inauthentic activity appeared to be designed to catalyze the most incendiary impulses of political sentiment.

Again, these are initial findings. We will provide a more in-depth assessment as soon as possible.

@resisterz

The first account identified by Facebook was called “Resisters” (username @resisterz), which described itself as:

Online and offline feminist activism against fascism. Widespread public education and direct action, amplifying the voices from targeted communities.

Organization on the page was effectively anonymous. It did not name any page managers or moderators, and the only contact detail provided was a Facebook messenger address.