Following a report released this week by a cybersecurity firm, social media giants Facebook and Twitter shut down hundreds of accounts, including many from Iran, for engaging in what Facebook called “coordinated inauthentic behavior” on the platforms, Wired reported Tuesday.

The report issued by FireEye on Tuesday said that the “inauthentic news” propagated by Iranian social media accounts promoted narratives including “anti-Saudi, anti-Israeli, and pro-Palestinian themes, as well as support for specific U.S. policies favorable to Iran, such as the U.S.-Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA).”

Facebook, in announcing its suspension of the fake news accounts noted that it shut down a network of accounts associated with Liberty Front Press. The network had, according to Facebook, “74 Pages, 70 accounts, and 3 groups on Facebook, as well as 76 accounts on Instagram.” Through its presence on Facebook, Liberty Front Press were followed by roughly 155,000 people and 48,000 people followed at least one of its Instagram accounts.

Facebook also discovered a second network associated with Liberty Front Press that used its presence on Facebook to launch cyberattacks.

Another network Facebook found was formed in 2011 and consisted of 168 pages and 140 accounts. This network had a combined 823,000 followers on Facebook and Instagram.  Though this network, which was deemed suspicious, produced content in Arabic and Farsi, no country was identified as being the source of it.

FireEye reported that it was difficult to pinpoint the origins of the groups, however the company showed how it made the connections to identify who was behind Liberty Front Press.

Overall, according to Wired, Facebook shut down 652 pages, groups and accounts and Twitter shut down 284 accounts. Twitter said that many of the accounts shuttered were from Iran.

[Photo: Minette Lontsie / WikiCommons ]