Facebook announced Tuesday it had removed 51 accounts, 36 pages, 7 groups and 3 Instagram accounts that it said originated in Iran and were responsible for "coordinated inauthentic behavior."
Why it matters: The announcement comes as tensions between the U.S. and Iran have escalated in the wake of the Trump administration's withdrawal from a multinational agreement aimed at controlling Iran's nuclear program.
Details: The cybersecurity firm FireEye, which Facebook said first flagged the operation, issued a report that detailed "inauthentic social media accounts posing as everyday Americans that were used to promote content from inauthentic news sites."
- "In addition to utilizing fake American personas that espoused both progressive and conservative political stances," according to FireEye, "some accounts impersonated real American individuals, including a handful of Republican political candidates that ran for House of Representatives seats in 2018."
