Twitter revealed Thursday that it had removed thousands of malicious accounts thought to have originated in Iran, Russia and Venezuela for spreading disinformation online, including previously undisclosed efforts to target the 2018 U.S. midterm election. Twitter said that the takedowns illustrate its progress two years after Russia’s 2016 disinformation campaign reached hundreds of millions of social-media users. The social media platform stated that the threats were spotted far earlier as a result of investments in new staff, clearer policies around abuse and improved artificial-intelligence tools that can challenge fake accounts or suspect posts faster than human moderators. Twitter has confirmed that 418 accounts were thought to have originated in Russia, 764 in Venezuela and more than 2,600 in Iran.
Source: The Washington Post
