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Facebook Says It Deleted 138 Pages Run By A Russian Agency

It says it also deleted 70 Facebook accounts and 65 Instagram accounts.
Posted at 11:08 PM, Apr 03, 2018
and last updated 2018-04-03 23:08:08-04

Facebook said Tuesday it removed 138 Facebook pages and 70 accounts that were controlled by a Russian organization that meddled in the 2016 U.S. election. It also removed 65 Instagram accounts.

All were run by the Internet Research Agency, or IRA. Ninety-five percent of the pages were reportedly in Russian and aimed at Russians or Russian-speakers.

Facebook said the content on these accounts wasn't necessarily problematic. They were removed because they were run by the IRA, and because the IRA has lied about its identity when it created accounts in the past.

Facebook's transparency could be a way of showing an increased focus on security amid breaches like the Cambridge Analytica scandal and perceived violations, like reports it was storing certain mobile users' messaging logs.

Additional reporting by Newsy affiliate CNN.