Social media companies are failing to stop manipulated activity, according to a report Friday by NATO-affiliated researchers who said they were easily able to buy tens of thousands of likes, comments and views on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram. “Overall social media companies are experiencing significant challenges in countering the malicious use of their platforms,” the report said. The researchers found that most fake social media activity is bought for commercial reasons, not political ones. • Facebook’s main social media network was best at stopping fake accounts, but any that got through were more successful because they faced little further scrutiny, and their comments and views weren’t removed. Facebook said it disabled 2.2 billion fake accounts in the first quarter of this year.

Source: Los Angeles Times December 06, 2019 22:30 UTC