Meta Shuts Down Nearly 1,600 Fake Facebook and Instagram Accounts That Were Allegedly Spying on Journalists and Activists

Meta, formerly known as Facebook, says almost 50,000 journalists and activists were the targets of spies on Facebook and Instagram.

On Thursday, Meta announced it removed about 1,600 fake accounts from its social media platforms, Facebook and Instagram, after discovering that seven “surveillance-for-hire” companies were using them to target journalists and human rights activists.

The companies were allegedly hired to tamper with journalists’ and activists’ devices and accounts. Their targets were reportedly located in several different places in the world. CBS News reports that companies were located in China, India, North Macedonia and Israel, and more than 50,000 people in over 100 countries were their prey. The spies were allegedly hired by law firms, businesses, and more located in over 20 countries, including the U.S., China, Saudi Arabia, and China.

In a blog post, Meta said the companies worked to get these individuals to reveal their information so that they could manipulate their devices. Some of the targets worked for Fox News or were TV producers and activists.

“The global surveillance-for-hire industry targets people across the internet to collect intelligence, manipulate them into revealing information and compromise their devices and accounts,” wrote Meta. “These companies are part of a sprawling industry that provides intrusive software tools and surveillance services indiscriminately to any customer regardless of who they target, or the human rights abuses they might enable.”