Meta Platforms Inc. announced today that it has taken down 937 accounts tied to the government of Nicaragua and President Daniel Ortega’s Sandinista party.

Meta, which until last week was known as Facebook Inc., called the outfit a “troll farm,” saying it had violated the company’s policy against “coordinated inauthentic behavior (CIB) on behalf of a foreign or government entity.” The result was the removal of 140 Pages, 24 Groups and 363 Instagram accounts.

In a blog post, Meta said the accounts targeted domestic audiences in the country and were partly run by employees of the Nicaraguan Institute of Telecommunications and the Post, working from the headquarters of the postal service in Managua. Other fake accounts were run out of the Supreme Court and the Nicaraguan Social Security Institute.

“This campaign was cross-platform as well as cross-government,” said Meta in a detailed report. “It ran a complex network of media brands across Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Blogspot and Telegram, as well as websites tied to these news entities.” Meta said the activities of the troll farm started in 2018 after students in the country protested against the government. The accounts then criticized the protests and any other party opposition, spread misinformation and supported the government.

Meta said when a government entity tries to corrupt or manipulate public discourse, it is especially worrying – as opposed to troll farms spreading lies for monetary gain. An example given in regard to the content posted by the trolls was a post calling the protesters “delinquents,” which seemed to suggest the people of the country were behind the government.

“Operations run by a government to target its own citizens are particularly concerning when they combine deceptive techniques with the real-world power of a state,” said Meta. “The use of government employees and infrastructure to run large-scale, cross-platform troll operations is an especially troubling trend: this year alone, we have taken down government-linked CIB networks in Ethiopia, Uganda, Sudan, Thailand and Azerbaijan.”

Meta said that it is under no illusion that such entities won’t evolve just as soon as they are taken down, and like the game “Whac-A-Mole,” “new deceptive behaviors will emerge.” The company added that to address this issue, it is currently building better technology and hiring more people.

Photo: Anthony Quintano/Flickr