The tactic of creating anonymous page networks to disseminate fake content is well known. Now, Facebook is taking several steps to end these pages and groups. A change in Facebook’s policies will allow the social network to eliminate group networks and pages that spread fake content more easily. This strategy is being used by various entities with varying interests and this is how Russian trolls, for example, affected US presidential elections in 2016.
So far, Facebook could only close pages that violated the terms and conditions. The company will now be able to delete all pages or groups maintained by the same person or entity. According to the post announcing this change, it will now be possible to “remove other Pages and Groups with similar names that are controlled by the same person, even if that Page or Group specifically has not reached the limit to be eliminated by itself”, Wired.
In recent past, Facebook has already eliminated “in bulk”, but only after showing evidence of links. It will now be possible to delete the Pages and Groups without having to demonstrate the infringements. For page admins, Facebook reshaped the dashboard, making it more obvious to see when a particular publication might have violated the Community Standards, what content was removed, and what the irregularity was committed.
However, the news and changes are part of the global strategy of Facebook started two years ago to combat disinformation and propaganda on the platform. Recently, Facebook allowed minors to spend money on games, it makes the company bullshit.