Belarus has set up fake accounts to stir up migrants: Facebook’s Meta Refugee News

The Meta report states that the Belarusian KGB has set up dozens of fake accounts to spark a migrant crisis on the Polish border.

Facebook’s Meta company has linked the Belarusian KGB to setting up dozens of fake social media accounts of people who appear as social media journalists and activists. migrant crisis On the border of Belarus and Poland.

A Meta report on Wednesday said it had removed 41 Facebook accounts, five Facebook groups and four Instagram accounts for “violating a policy on non-authentic coordinated behavior.”

False profiles were used to criticize the conduct of the Polish authorities, including spreading allegations that Polish border guards were using force and intimidation against migrants and refugees, he said.

“These fictional characters published criticisms of Poland in English, Polish and Kurdish, including pictures and videos of Polish border guards violating migrants’ rights, and comparing Poland’s treatment of migrants with other countries,” the report said.

“Although the people behind it tried to hide their identity and coordination, our investigation found links to the KGB in Belarus,” he said.

The Belarusian KGB could not be reached for comment.

Facebook has come under global pressure from regulators, lawmakers and staff to deal with the abuse of its services. He told Reuters in September that he was being more aggressive in closing down coordinated groups of real-user accounts that carry out some harmful activities on his platform, including attempts to influence national elections.

EU countries have accused Belarus of creating a migrant crisis on the eastern borders of the bloc, encouraging thousands of people in the Middle East and Africa to try. Cross to Poland and Lithuania, in revenge for Western sanctions, Minsk.

Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko has denied doing so and blamed the EU for the crisis.

Human rights groups say at least 13 people he died because people camped in the frost on the border. The three EU countries bordering Belarus have defended their view of rejecting migrants without assessing their cases individually or without providing a realistic opportunity to seek asylum guaranteed by international humanitarian law.

The Meta report said the company had removed 31 Facebook accounts, four Groups and four Instagram accounts because they believed they were created in Poland and focused on an audience in Belarus and Iraq.

The report did not link the accounts to the Polish state, but said they intended to encourage them to try to join the EU.

“These fake people said they were sharing negative experiences of trying to get from Belarus to Poland and published the difficult lives of migrants in Europe,” he said.

“Poland has also published in Poland about strict anti-migrant policies and neo-Nazi anti-migrant activities in Poland.”