IRA Again: Unlucky Thirteen
Facebook Takes Down Small, Recently Created Network Linked to Russia's Internet Research Agency
On September 1, 2020, Facebook announced that it had taken down two recently created pages and 13 accounts on its platform that it attributed to “individuals associated with past activity by the Russian Internet Research Agency (IRA).” The network largely served to amplify a website called peacedata[.]net that claimed to be an independent news outlet working in English and Arabic. Facebook exposed the network after a tip-off from U.S. law enforcement about off-platform activity.
Before the takedown, Facebook shared the network with Graphika for independent analysis.
The personas that the network created used AI-generated profile pictures and maintained a presence across Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, in an apparent attempt to appear more convincing; this is the first time we have observed known IRA-linked accounts use AI-generated avatars. However, the website employed real and apparently unwitting individuals, typically novice freelance writers, to write its articles. Between February and August 2020, it published over 500 articles in English and over 200 articles in Arabic, some of them original, others copied from a range of sources.
Ben Nimmo
Head of Investigations
Ben Nimmo was Head of Investigations at Graphika, where he led an expert team of OSINT investigators in detecting, identifying and analyzing inauthentic behavior and information operations online. He specializes in analyzing patterns of online disinformation and influence operations across varying platforms and geographical regions. He is now the Principal Investigator, Intelligence & Investigations at OpenAI.
Camille François
Chief Innovation Officer
Camille François works on cyber conflict and digital rights online. She was the Chief Innovation Officer at Graphika, where she led the company’s work to detect and mitigate disinformation, media manipulation and harassment.
C. Shawn Eib
Analyst
Léa Ronzaud
Senior Analyst
Léa Ronzaud leads monitoring and investigations into the detection and tracking of Russian influence operations and violent extremist groups. She also researches nihilistic violent extremism and hacktivism. Léa’s work has helped disrupt efforts by extremists in multiple countries to orchestrate real-world harm and exposed the inner workings of nation-state influence operations from Russia, China, and Iran.
Download the complete PDF
The full report includes the complete network graph maps, raw attribution indicators, cross-platform topology analysis, and the full takedown timeline with platform-level data.
- Full network graph visualizations
- Attribution indicators with confidence scores
- Raw behavioral modeling data
- Takedown coordination timeline
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