Yesterday both Facebook and Twitter disclosed the discovery and suspension of politically-motivated or state-connected networks of inauthentic accounts. 

Facebook’s takedowns involved coordinated inauthenticity that sought to engage mostly domestic audiences. One was a US-based network of “thinly veiled personas” associated with the Rally Forge marketing firm that appears to have worked on behalf of Turning Point USA to support President Trump.

Facebook also dismantled a network in Myanmar linked to members of the country's military whose line was critical of the National League for Democracy and political leader Aung San Suu Kyi; there was also some anti-Rohingya content.

The social network also removed coordinated inauthenticity based in Azerbaijan. These were engaged in praise of President Ilham Aliev and the New Azerbaijani Party and criticism of the opposition (with accusations of treason). They also included patriotic content about the ongoing fighting with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh. 

Finally, in Nigeria, an inauthentic anti-government network supporting Ibrahim Zakzaky and Nigeria’s Islamic Movement was cancelled.

Twitter’s cancellations showed little overlap with Facebook’s recent cancellations, although some did coincide with Facebook’s September enforcement actions against Iranian and Russian disinformation. Yesterday Twitter removed over five-hundred Cuban accounts. It also cancelled Saudi accounts that operated principally against regional rival Qatar.

The most interesting takedowns were of a network of accounts associated with the Royal Thai Army that “amplified” pro-government and anti-opposition content. Stanford’s Internet Observatory called the Army’s operation “low-impact” and “cheerleading without fans.” The Bangkok Post reports that the Royal Thai Army denies any involvement in disinformation.