Intensive Removal of Fake Accounts A Step in Right Direction for Facebook, Notes Social Media Expert

Portland SEO's Augusto Beato lauded Facebook for purging fake accounts but noting that it may take more time and further tweaking of parameters before it could discourage the platform’s use in spreading fake news and misinformation.

Beato, who is the CEO of Portland SEO, was reacting to a report by George Washington University research professor Trevor Davis that Facebook is failing to remove obvious fake accounts during critical periods like the ongoing European Parliament election.

Davis spent three months researching AfD’s presence on Facebook and investigating hundreds of thousands of Facebook accounts that have liked pages or posts of AfD, the German far-right party.

German newsweekly Der Spiegel reported that AfD content represents 85 percent of all German political content being shared on the platform.

Earlier, German broadcaster ZDF had published a report regarding thousands of suspicious Facebook accounts liking pages and content from AfD.

"There's a sharp increase in new fake accounts in the past six months and its role in fraudulent transactions is getting bigger," notes Beato. "Facebook is getting rid of these accounts by using accepted standards in ascertaining which are fakes, but it is expected to expand these standards after further studies."

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Facebook Inc. claimed it had removed 2.2 billion fake in the first quarter of 2019, nearly doubling the 1.2 billion fake accounts that it had taken down from October-December 2018, according to the latest Community Standards Enforcement Report.

In its Community Standards Report, Facebook shared metrics on how it is performing on preventing and removing content that goes against its community standards.

The report is one of the steps the company is taking to increase transparency and improve its public image after controversies related to Cambridge Analytica and the platform’s role in spreading fake news and misinformation broke out.