Meta shuts down Iran-based fake Instagram accounts aimed at UK users

Facebook parent company Meta removed a network of fake accounts that originated in Iran and were aimed Instagram users in Scotland, with content supporting Scottish independence, the company's investigators said on Thursday.

The network used fake accounts to pose as locals in England and Scotland, posting photos and memes about current events and criticism of the UK government, Meta said.

The accounts organised their content around common hashtags promoting the cause, though they at times misspelled them, the company said.

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The accounts also posted about football and UK cities, likely to make the fictitious personas seem more authentic.

Some of the fake accounts used profile pictures probably created through AI techniques, while others used photos of media personalities and celebrities from the UK and Iraq as profile pictures, Meta said.

In a referendum on Scottish independence in 2014, Scots voted 55 per cent-45 per cent to remain in the UK, but both Brexit and the British government's handling of the Covid-19 crisis have bolstered support for independence among Scots and demands for a second vote.

Meta said its investigation found links to people in Iran, including those with a background in teaching English as a foreign language.

It said the operation had some connections with a small, Iran-based network it previously removed in December 2020, which was mostly aimed at Arabic, French and English-speaking audiences using fake accounts, but did not provide further details on who might be behind the activity.

“We've seen a range of operations coming from Iran over the last few years,” said Ben Nimmo, Meta's global threat intelligence lead for influence operations, in a press briefing. “It's not a monolithic environment.”

The social media company said it had removed eight Facebook accounts and 126 Instagram accounts as part of this latest network in December for violating its rules against co-ordinated inauthentic behaviour.

Meta also said in December it had removed a network that originated primarily in Mexico that was aimed at audiences in countries including Honduras, Ecuador and El Salvador, and a network that originated in Turkey and was aimed at people in Libya.

The National in Davos

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Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

Pad Man

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Three-and-a-half stars

UAE currency

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Key facilities

Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
Premier League-standard football pitch
400m Olympic running track
NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
600-seat auditorium
Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
Specialist robotics and science laboratories
AR and VR-enabled learning centres
Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills