Facebook Catches Comment Army Troll Farm in Latin American Countries

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] Facebook, the world's largest social media company, announced on the 1st (local time) that it had detected over 1,000 'troll farm' accounts operated by the Nicaraguan government ahead of the presidential election in the Latin American country.

In its monthly report published that day, Facebook stated, "We removed troll farms operated by the Nicaraguan government and the Sandinista National Liberation Front led by Daniel Ortega." The accounts removed this time included 937 Facebook accounts, 140 Facebook pages, 24 groups, and 363 Instagram accounts.

Facebook emphasized, "This was one of the most government-wide troll operations we have detected so far," adding, "It is the first time we have seen multiple government agencies participating simultaneously."

Since the beginning of this year, Facebook has taken measures to shut down accounts linked to the governments of Nicaragua, Ethiopia, Uganda, Sudan, Thailand, and Azerbaijan.

Foreign media have characterized this troll farm operation as an election fraud orchestrated by President Ortega, who is seeking a fifth term in the Nicaraguan presidential election scheduled for the 7th.

Since the anti-government protests in 2018, President Ortega has continuously suppressed the opposition and gagged independent media to control public opinion.

During the 2018 protests, a fake account posted protest photos along with the message, "Criminals are attacking the police. The ones who will ultimately suffer are not the police but the people of Nicaragua."

Facebook's report on this day evaluated that the Ortega regime's manipulation of public opinion is being carried out extensively on the internet as well.

The international community, including the United States, is reportedly preparing additional sanctions against the Ortega regime following this election.

Josep Borrell, the European Union (EU) High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, has criticized the Nicaraguan government as one of the worst dictatorships in the world.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.