Facebook Removes Nativist Georgian March Linked Network

Social media platform Facebook announced on April 6 that it removed 23 Facebook accounts, 24 Pages, 12 Groups, and 11 Instagram accounts connected to the ultranationalist Georgian March party and its youth wing, for coordinated inauthentic behavior. It said the network targeted Georgia’s domestic audiences.

Facebook also said they found the network after reviewing public reporting on this activity by researchers at the Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) at the Atlantic Council.

DFRLab also released a new study today, according to which around 119,000 accounts followed one or more of the 24 removed pages. It also noted that removed 12 Facebook groups had a combined membership of around 10,500 accounts, with engagement with their posts being low or in many cases, close to zero.

DFRLab’s study further noted that nine of the 23 removed Facebook accounts had stolen profile pictures from elsewhere on the internet and “were likely inauthentic.” It added that some of the removed accounts that promoted Georgian March, at the same time shared content from PosTV, a pro-government media outlet.