Facebook has closed some accounts allegedly set up by an Israeli firm named Archimedes, which were used to dent the image of Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, and boosting the campaign of President Muhammadu Buhari, Associated Press reports.

The report by United States think tank, Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab, which analyses misinformation online, said some sample posts removed from Facebook appeared to praise President Buhari of the All Progressives Congress and smear his leading opponent, Atiku.


Many of the pages and accounts were discovered to be linked to a Tel Aviv-based political consulting and lobbying firm named Archimedes.

On its sparse website of African stock images, the company advertises its deliberate efforts to conduct disinformation campaigns, boasting that it takes “every advantage available in order to change reality according to our client’s wishes” through “unlimited online accounts operation.”


Facebook banned Archimedes from its platform on Thursday for its “coordinated and deceptive behaviour” and conducted a sweeping takedown of dozens of accounts and hundreds of pages primarily aimed at disrupting elections in African countries, with some scattered activity in South-East Asia and Latin America.

Overall, the misleading accounts had reached some 2.8 million users, and the pages had engaged over 5,000 followers, according to Facebook’s estimates.

One of the pages that Facebook cancelled appeared filled with viral misinformation attacking Atiku, a former Vice-President.

The report further read, “The page’s banner image showed Abubakar as Darth Vader, the Star Wars villain, holding up a sign reading, ‘Make Nigeria Worse Again’.

“Another page with almost identical visuals, although significantly excluding the Darth Vader mask, purported to support Atiku, with the slogan ‘Team Atiku for President’.


“The report identified the page as a covert attempt to infiltrate Atiku’s audience of potential voters and manipulate their views, gradually spamming them with antithetical content and diverting them to the ‘Make Nigeria Worse’ page.”

The report also featured a page that explicitly boosted Buhari, with amateur videos eulogising the accomplishments of his Presidency as though he were not locked in a tight battle for re-election.


According to the report, several of the removed pages attempted to defame candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party.


It said one page with artificially amplified audience engagement, called “Rivers Violence Watch,” pumped out political propaganda while posing as a neutral monitor of election violence, using the page description to mask its efforts.

Most of the pages claimed to be run by local Nigerian users, but in fact, were managed from Israel.


It said fake news flooded Nigerians and played a central role in the recent national election.

The accounts were also found to have been used in spreading rumours and promoting violence in an election which revealed Nigeria’s fault lines along ethnic and religious divides.

Despite the overt political messaging of these inauthentic pages, the Digital Forensics lab could not assign a particular ideological motive to Archimedes’ campaigns, given the diversity and scope of its general operations.


Rather, the company, which poured over $800,000 into deceptive content over the past several years, appeared profit-driven. The report did not probe the origins of its cash flow, and it was not clear whether political actors in Nigeria or other countries where the campaigns took off had paid for the company’s “strategic consulting.”

Facebook has in the last year closed down over one billion accounts used in spreading fake news.


Atiku has dragged the Independent National Electoral Commission and the President to court, accusing them of stealing his victory at the poll. He claims the figures on INEC’s servers show that he won the poll but the results were doctored in favour of Buhari.

https://punchng.com/2019-presidential-election-facebook-closes-pro-buhari-accounts/

Ok ooo

Na dem dem
Atiku had a dubai strategy, buhari had Tel aviv strategists which no one knew nothing about till now.

One thing this government has going for it is the ability to hoodwink the populace, this has been done successfully and severally.
They successfully increased pump price of fuel from from #87 to #145 and nobody coughed, not the even NLC or anyone. ASUU was on strike for over 3 months up untill few days to the general elections and still they won by over 3million votes. The national assembly, the symbol of our democracy was raided and blocked by dss, judges who refused to play balls were raided and tagged corrupt and still nobody coughed.

Something is terribly wrong with this country

Bunch of hypocrites...

super story

IPOB

Are they trying to give us some message??

Isnt that a little too late, afterall Atikuloosers also flooded Nairaland and twitter with fake accounts mimicing northerners and yorubas, just to give the impression that atiku is loved, with their fake likes and shares.

Buhari has a secret working relationship with the isreali... during the 80s buhari contacted his friends at Isreali mossad to drug and kidnap a corrupt ex minister and a fugitive Umaru Dikko from london, fast forward to 2017, buhari's order a military exercise as a decoy to relocate Nnamdi to Isreal and released him the week Peter obi was picked to be PDP vice president, and Kanu dented Atiku's image and made many boycott voters registration, Again instead of using oxford data manipulating company Analytica for his dirty job, he opted for Isreali firm .. this are too many coincidence for a former army general


.

Buhari is the most corrupt bastard ever

Nothing to see here, everyone with a brain knew that APC was full of fake news

I don report like 30 myself

Stupid news...

Atiku and his gang coupled with bitter souls from the east were the ones primarily engaged in hate campaign against Buhari...

That stupid Hope For Nigeria never let my timeline breath without negative information concerning Buhari till I blocked the page.

Yu mean from 5% nd 3 citizens sponsored account ?

Misleading people since 1901

message..! if you know you know

Some accounts here should be deleted not just banned...

[s]

post=78537539:
It was a HUGE success.

God bless our darling President MUHAMMADU BUHARI, a man after God's heart.

God bless Nigeria.

[/s]

You don't have any shame

Don't include God in your useless lies

post=78537539:
It was a HUGE success.

God bless our darling President MUHAMMADU BUHARI, a man after God's heart.

God bless Nigeria.

Damn! So you really were not after fair play or good Nigeria?

What's the difference between you and the regular Yahoo boy? The Yahoo boy defraud foreigners, you defraud locals. Shame!

To complicate issues, this guy keep calling God's name in his fraud. Fake religious proselyte

Earthquake3:
[s][/s]

You don't have any shame

Don't include God in your useless lies

new2012:


Damn! So you really were not after fair play or hood Nigeria?

What's the difference between you and the regular Yahoo boy? The Yahoo boy defraud foreigners, you defraud locals. Shame!

Cries of losers in life.
Una go wail till 2023 and beyond.
Supporters of CRIMINALS and thieves..
Nonentities.
Rule 3 in life : Ignore losers in life

Wail on kids..............
Take am once again

post=78537539:
It was a HUGE success.

God bless our darling President MUHAMMADU BUHARI, a man after God's heart.

God bless Nigeria.

The way nature run, we shall all pay for our sins, one way or the other..

Just like the boy's scout.. Be Prepared!

Be prepared for the repercussion of your actions! Sometimes even support for evil is sufficient folly and it has its own reward

Yet Buhari will come with his old face to call himself Mr Integrity.. Nigerians are the ones suffering for this man’s incompetence

HisSexcellency:
Na dem dem
Atiku had a dubai strategy, buhari had Tel aviv strategists which no one knew nothing about till now.

One thing this government has going for it is the ability to hoodwink the populace, this has been done successfully and severally.
They successfully increased pump price of fuel from from #87 to #145 and nobody coughed, not the even NLC or anyone. ASUU was on strike for over 3 months up untill few days to the general elections and still they won by over 3million votes. The national assembly, the symbol of our democracy was raided and blocked by dss, judges who refused to play balls were raided and tagged corrupt and still nobody coughed.

Something is terribly wrong with this country

Your analysis clearly depict where yu belong to as a 5% and 3dr citizen of Nigeria

We knw ur type so ur dimwitted simpleton dead skull analysis is very good for nincompoop like yu but definitely nonsensical to average reasonable Nigerians

God bless president Buhari the best president of Nigeria the most respected president in the world. Your integrity will always speak for you mr president. As you start your second term in the next two weeks I wish you great success.
You have done well in your first term and thanks for making Nigeria great sir, Nigerians love you.

BuhariAdvocate:
God bless president Buhari the best president of Nigeria the most respected president in the world. Your integrity will always speak for you mr president. As you start your second term in the next two weeks I wish you great success.
You have done well in your first term and thanks for making Nigeria great sir, Nigerians love you.

God bless you too sir.

It is ALWAYS good and refreshing to know that we still have some reasonable people like you around here.

Wailers will continue to wail till they turn to skeleton

SouthSouth1914:
Yet Buhari will come with his old face to call himself Mr Integrity.. Nigerians are the ones suffering for this man’s incompetence

No its ur Atiku who is sponsoring insurgency in Nigeria with his Dubai strategy that is a man of great integrity

Casptainspecial:


No its ur Atiku who is sponsoring insurgency in Nigeria with his Dubai strategy that is a man of great integrity

No mind these wailers bro.
They are all bunch of nonentities

BuhariAdvocate:
God bless president Buhari the best president of Nigeria the most respected president in the world. Your integrity will always speak for you mr president. As you start your second term in the next two weeks I wish you great success.
You have done well in your first term and thanks for making Nigeria great sir, Nigerians love you.

May God bless too

izzou:


Stop sounding so emotional please

What is his sin? That he supports Buhari? Is it a crime to support someone you don't support?

Thanks for the heads up Chairman.
We always ignore losers in life.
We had an election, we won, they lost and since over 3 months ago, but their wailing and suicide mission never stopped.

Dem just dey start their cries

#pepperdemgang