Facebook says Russian disinformation campaign targeted African countries

Facebook said Wednesday it took down accounts linked to a Russian ally of President Vladimir Putin seeking to spread disinformation on the social platform in eight African countries. The operations hiding behind fake identities were linked to Evgeny Prigozhin, who has been indicted in the United States in connection with an influence campaign targeting the 2016 US elections.

"Each of these operations created networks of accounts to mislead others about who they were and what they were doing," Facebook cybersecurity chief Nathaniel Gleicher said in a statement. "We have shared information about our findings with law enforcement, policymakers, and industry partners."