The logos of Meta and Facebook are seen in this illustration taken November 2, 2021. REUTERS Dado Ruvic Illustration
KYIV, Dec 2, Reuters - Facebook's parent company Meta has linked the Belarusian KGB to the setting up of dozens of fake social media accounts of people pretending to be journalists and activists to stir up a migrant crisis on the border of Belarus and Poland.
A Meta report said on Wednesday it removed 41 Facebook accounts, five Facebook groups and four Instagram accounts for violating its policy on coordinated inauthentic behavior. The fake profiles were used to criticise the behavior of Polish authorities, including spreading allegations that Polish border guards were using force and intimidation against migrants.
These fictitious personas posted criticism of Poland in English, Polish, and Kurdish, including pictures and videos about Polish border guards who allegedly violated migrants' rights, and compared Poland's treatment of migrants against other countries, according to the report.
Our investigation found links to the Belarusian KGB, although the people behind it tried to hide their identities and coordination.
The Belarusian KGB could not be reached for comment.
Facebook is under global pressure from regulators, lawmakers and employees to combat abuses on its services. In September, it told Reuters that it was more aggressive in shutting down groups of real-user accounts that engage in certain harmful activities on its platform, including attempts to influence elections in countries.
The EU countries accuse Belarus of creating a migrant crisis on the bloc's eastern borders by encouraging thousands from the Middle East and Africa to try to cross into Poland and Lithuania, as a result of Western sanctions on Minsk. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko denies doing so and blames the EU for the crisis.
At least 13 people have died as migrants have camped in freezing conditions at the border, according to rights groups. Three EU countries bordering Belarus have defended their approach of pushing migrants back without individually assessing their cases or giving them a realistic chance to claim asylum under international humanitarian law. The Meta report said the company had removed 31 Facebook accounts, four Groups and four Instagram accounts that were believed to have originated in Poland and targeted an audience in Belarus and Iraq.
The accounts did not link to the Polish state, but they were intended to discourage migrants from trying to get into the EU.
These fake personas claimed to be sharing their own negative experiences of trying to get from Belarus to Poland and posting about migrants' difficult lives in Europe. They also posted about Poland's strict anti-migrant policies and anti-migrant neo-Nazi activity in Poland.