Facebook, Twitter and Google executives have been invited to testify in Washington on Wednesday about foreign influence campaigns and disinformation online ahead of the midterm elections in November.
The problem has been far reaching. Over the summer, Facebook announced the discovery of hundreds of fake pages and user accounts on its site. Some pages appeared to specifically target Americans with divisive messages, using the same tactics that Russian operatives did to influence voters during the 2016 presidential campaigns.
The latest influence campaigns also imitated posts by legitimate pages and groups on Facebook that advocate political beliefs, making it difficult to tell what was a genuine post and what was not. Let’s compare some to see if you can tell the difference. Spoiler: It isn’t easy.
One of these posts was from a genuine Facebook page that supports feminism, and the other was part of an influence campaign. Can you guess which post is from a fake page?
“Resisters” was a fake account that Facebook removed in July. “Feminist News” is a real Facebook page, as far as we can tell. (We asked Facebook to confirm the examples of real accounts used here are in fact authentic, and were told there was no apparent reason to suspect otherwise.)
Which post about Latin American heritage is from a fake page?
“Aztlan Warriors” was part of an influence operation, and “Aztec Mayan Inca Native Warriors” is a real Facebook page.
Which post about self care is from a fake page?
“Mindful Being” was part of an influence operation, and “Revolutionary Self-Care” is a real Facebook page.
Which post about African-American issues is from a fake page?
“Black Elevation” was part of an influence operation, and “Black Excellence” is a real Facebook page.
How did you do?
Clearly, it can be nearly impossible to know whether an ad or a post on Facebook is legitimate or a ploy by a foreign government to turn you against other Americans. You can look for language clues, or investigate the posts that pop up on your feed, or try to get familiar with posts by known Russian pages. But unless a page is taken down, you probably won’t know for sure.