Facebook takedowns reveal sophistication of Russian trolls

Facebook and Twitter revealed evidence Thursday suggesting that Russian efforts to interfere in U.S. presidential election are getting more sophisticated and harder to detect.

companies said y have removed dozens of fake accounts and ps from ir services.

Facebook said network of accounts it removed was in “early sts” of building an audience. It was operated by people in Ghana and Nigeria on behalf of individuals in Russia. accounts posted about topics such as black history, celebrity gossip and fashion.

Twitter, meanwhile, said accounts it removed tried to sow discord by emphasizing social issues such as race and civil rights without favoring any particular candidate or ideology.

tactics accounts used to avoid detection — and that Russia has essentially outsourced work to countries in West Africa — shows that foreign interference remains a challenge for Facebook in months leading to vember.

accounts Facebook took down focused on stoking racial divisions. Some posed as legitimate n-governmental organizations in order to deceive people.

takedowns follow a report last week that found Moscow’s campaign of election interference hasn’t let up since 2016, and in fact has gotten more difficult to detect.

That report, from University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Young Mie Kim, found that Russia-linked social media accounts are posting about same divisive issues — race relations, gun laws and immigration — as y did in 2016, when Kremlin polluted American voters’ feeds with messs about presidential election. Facebook has since removed those accounts as well.

Last month, FBI Director Christopher Wray warned that Russia was still waging “information warfare” with an army of fictional social media personas and bots that spread disinformation.

Russia has repeatedly denied interfering in U.S. elections.