The longtime Trump friend and former campaign adviser used fake accounts and other deceptive tactics to manipulate public debate, the company said
Facebook took down a network of more than 100 pages and accounts on Wednesday it said was affiliated with felon and former Republican operative Roger Stone for “coordinated inauthentic behavior,” taking the company’s campaign against disinformation closer to the heart of the nation’s political establishment.
The offending activity on Facebook and its subsidiary Instagram dated as far back as 2015 but was particularly active during the 2016 presidential election season, when Stone was advising Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, and in 2017, as federal investigators were scrutinizing his activities.
Facebook officials said Stone, a longtime friend of Trump’s, used fake accounts and other deceptive measures to manipulate public debate. In at least a small number of occasions, Stone also drew attention to posts made by anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, which at the time was publishing damaging Democratic Party emails originally stolen by Russian hackers, the company said. Continue reading.