Facebook Shuts Down ''Stop Steal'' Group

Facebook removed a group called "Stop the Steal" which was founded on Friday, it was fundraising to challenge election results across the U.S. The group accumulated more than 300,000 members.

The group uploaded a minute-long video to its Facebook page with a pointed message. The grainy footage showed a crowd outside a polling station in Detroit, shouting and chanting “stop the count.” The group members commented “Biden is stealing the vote" and this is unfair.

On other hand, the group appeared to be linked to a group called Women for America First. This group was formed in 2019 to protest Trump’s impending impeachment, according to Mother Jones. One Women for America First co-founder, Amy Kremer, is a former tea party activist.

Moreover, Renee DiResta the disinformation researcher at the Stanford Internet Observatory explained, that Facebook groups are powerful infrastructure for organising. Also, DiResta noted that the Stop the Steal Facebook group helped people coalesce around a baseless belief that the election was being unlawfully taken from Trump.

Earlier, Facebook removed some fake accounts, that attempted to influence online discussion around the U.S. political election.

Two Facebook pages and 22 Instagram accounts was removed for using fake identities to comment on social and political issues in both English and Spanish, including the U.S. presidential election. Those accounts were tied to people in Mexico and Venezuela.

On other hand, last week FBI explained that Russia and Iran obtained voter registration data to meddle in the upcoming election.

Earlier, Facebook Vice President Nick Clegg announced, that the firm rejected 2.2 million Facebook and Instagram ads, and 120,000 messages removed for attempting to obstruct the vote in the upcoming US presidential election.

”We have forged partnerships with 70 specialized media, including five in France, on the verification of information, and AFP is one of these partners, Clegg reported”.

Also, he explained that the company is using artificial intelligence which has made it possible to delete billions of messages and fake accounts, before they are even reported by users.