Facebook shuts down over 200 pro-Saddam Hussein pages
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Social networking website Facebook has removed over 200 profiles which promoted and glorified former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
In a statement Facebook Newsroom published on Tuesday, the social media giant said it “removed multiple Pages, Groups, and accounts that were involved in coordinated inauthentic behavior on Facebook and Instagram.”
The statement said 76 accounts, 120 Facebook Pages, one Group, two Events, and seven Instagram accounts were shut down “for engaging in domestic-focused coordinated inauthentic behavior in Iraq.”
According to Facebook, the page administrators and owners often posted content about domestic political and societal issues in Iraq, including Kurdish-Iraqi politics and posts about Saddam Hussein and “the state of the military under the Saddam rule.”
The Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab), a global network of digital forensic analysts to combat disinformation, said in a tweet on Tuesday that the 206 pro-Saddam pages “had significant followings and high engagement.”