Facebook has removed dozens of pages and accounts linked to President Trump's longtime adviser Roger Stone for inauthentic behavior.
The company on Wednesday said it took down 54 Facebook accounts, 50 pages, and four Instagram accounts "involved in coordinated inauthentic behavior" and that an investigation linked this network of pages and accounts to Stone and his associates, CNN reports.
Those involved use fake accounts "to pose as residents of Florida, post, and comment on their own content to make it appear more popular than it is," including posts about Stone and "his pages, websites, books, and media appearances," as well as WikiLeaks, the 2016 election, and Stone's trial, Facebook said. This network also spent about $300,000 on Facebook and Instagram ads.
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Facebook also took down Stone's Instagram account as part of its removal effort, CNN reports. Facebook's head of security policy, Nathaniel Gleicher, told The Washington Post that Stone's personal accounts were "deeply enmeshed in the activity here." Some of the pages were linked to the Proud Boys, the far-right group that Facebook previously banned, the company said.
Stone, who was convicted last year of witness tampering and lying to investigators, as well as other charges, told The New York Times on Wednesday that "the claim that I have utilized or control unauthorized or fake accounts on any platform is categorically and provably false." He's set to report to prison next week.
