Russian Internet campaign targeted Africa

Facebook has taken down accounts linked to a Russian ally of President Vladimir Putin seeking to spread disinformation on the social network in eight African countries. A report on the News24 site notes that the operations hiding behind fake identities were linked to Yevgeny Prigozhin, who has been indicted in the US in connection with an influence campaign targeting the 2016 US elections. 'Each of these operations created networks of accounts to mislead others about who they were and what they were doing,' said Facebook cybersecurity chief Nathaniel Gleicher, adding that information about the findings have been shared with law enforcement, policymakers and industry partners. Facebook said the accounts originated in Russia and targeted Madagascar, the CAR, Mozambique, the DRC, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Sudan and Libya. The report notes that the move is the latest effort by the social media giant to halt foreign influence efforts in the US and elsewhere.