The pages posed as news outlets such as “Raven Tribune” or journalists such as “war_journalist” or activists such as “saudidissident”.
A Delhi-based “online reputation” company was posting content against the UAE and Saudi Arabia and in favour of Qatar through pages masquerading as news outlets, journalists and activists, a new Facebook report has revealed.
“A number of these accounts purported to be local in countries they targeted, and some posed as journalists and activists. The people behind this activity typically posted in English about local news and events including topics like Saudi Arabia’s role in the Yemen conflict, the UAE and Saudi Arabia’s human rights record, criticism of Manchester City, the Premier League soccer team, and praise for sporting events in Qatar,” the report released on Tuesday stated.
Facebook has taken down 37 Facebook accounts, 32 pages, 11 groups and 42 Instagram accounts linked to the company, aRep Global. It is alleged that those behind this activity used fake identities for a network of pages and groups and the accounts were mostly aimed at directing users to links for news outlets.
The pages posed as news outlets such as “Raven Tribune” or journalists such as “war_journalist” or activists such as “saudidissident”.
A PR news item by the company states that it works on “online reputation repair” and was set up in Delhi in 2013.