Five out of 14 botnets identified by Facebook were operating in Mexico

Facebook's March 2021 inauthentic behavior report, where Mexico had a higher participation than in other months, with 5 botnets.

Five out of 14 botnets identified by Facebook were operating in Mexico
Botnets. Image: Pixabay

Inauthentic behavior networks cause fake accounts, in coordination with authentic accounts, to create disinformation campaigns or push a topic in the digital conversation, thus violating Facebook's community rules, which leads to their elimination. According to the company's latest report, focused on March 2021, Mexico had five such networks out of the 14 that Facebook identified and subsequently eliminated.

The networks were focused on different parts of the Mexican Republic, such as the state of Quintana Roo where 71 accounts, 18 pages, and seven Instagram accounts that were dedicated to strengthening the conversation around local events in this entity were eliminated.

Another network was located in the state of Colima, where 56 accounts were eliminated, while in the state of Baja California, the platform eliminated 54 accounts and 73 pages. Another state where these types of accounts were identified was in Nayarit, where 151 accounts, 14 pages, and 63 Instagram accounts were eliminated.

Lastly, there was a national network that focused on promoting the conversation on behalf of the executive, through the promotion of events, such as the vaccination day, or political memes.

Other countries that had botnets with inappropriate behavior, besides Mexico, were Albania, Spain, Iran, and Egypt.

Another network was located in the state of Colima, where 56 accounts were eliminated, while in the state of Baja California, the platform eliminated 54 accounts and 73 pages. Another state where these types of accounts were identified was in Nayarit, where 151 accounts, 14 pages, and 63 Instagram accounts were eliminated.

Finally, there was a national network that focused on promoting the conversation on behalf of the executive, through the promotion of events, such as the vaccination day, or political memes. In total, the number of accounts deleted by Facebook was 1,167, 290 Instagram profiles, 255 pages, and 34 groups.