A Collection of Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior
Snopes investigates the coordinated efforts of trolls, scams, and campaigns that aren't quite what they seem.
Snopes built its name checking misinformation on the internet, but as the years have gone by, we have also witnessed the rise of massive efforts to spread it. A phenomenon called “coordinated inauthentic behavior” — defined by the leading social media platforms as the use of multiple accounts or pages that hide the real identities of the people running them to mislead and/or influence people for political or financial gain — has become rampant on social media.
The Snopes Dive Team has uncovered several shady scams, trolls, and fake-account rings. Here are all of the investigations to date.
Kosovar Facebook Pages Use Coronavirus Fears, ‘Blue Lives Matter’ Memes To Trick American Followers
Networks from the Balkans nation are deploying divisive content and patriotic nostalgia, echoing past foreign election-interference campaigns.
Savage Memes and Lunar Dreams: Deceptive Dating Sites’ Intimate Ties to Firefly Aerospace
How Cheech and Chong's Facebook timeline unwittingly exposed a network of niche dating websites tied to a Silicon Valley space tycoon.
EXCLUSIVE: Expanding Pro-Trump Outlet ‘The BL’ Is Closely Linked to The Epoch Times
Both The Epoch Times and The BL deny any connection whatsoever. Our report makes that a challenging argument to defend.
Disguising Hate: How Radical Evangelicals Spread Anti-Islamic Vitriol on Facebook
A small group of radical evangelical Christians is repurposing Facebook pages and PACs to build a coordinated, pro-Trump network that spreads hate and conspiracy theories.
Hiding in Plain Sight: PAC-Connected Activists Set Up ‘Local News’ Outlets
Star News Digital Media, Inc. may look like a media company that produces local news, but a Snopes investigation reveals deep, undisclosed connections to political activism.
Misinfluencers, Inc.: How Fake News Is Reaching Millions Using Verified Facebook Accounts
We tracked 29 fake domains that post to verified celebrity pages through an unknown mechanism. Here is what we found.
Media Firm “Providr” Allegedly Owes Money to Several Angry Facebook Publishers
The company gained prominence by asserting they were compliant with Facebook’s rules at a time when few other firms were. They were not, and now their former clients feel duped.
‘Content Providers’ Easily Find Ways Around Facebook’s Rules
In March 2018, Facebook changed their policies regarding branded content, leaving many publishers — but not all of them — scrambling.
Supercharging Snopes for 2020
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How a Pro-Trump Network Is Building a Fake Empire on Facebook and Getting Away with It
Hundreds of fake account admins and 1,929 Facebook advertising violations only begin to tell the story of the Epoch Times-linked, pro-Trump empire known as The BL.
Popular ‘USA’ Facebook Page Run by Ukrainians Targeted Older Americans
The Facebook page World USA became a testament to a steadfast Rockwellian conception of America. But it was run by two Ukrainians.