Facebook announced Tuesday it had removed 51 accounts, 36 pages, 7 groups and 3 Instagram accounts that it said originated in Iran and were responsible for "coordinated inauthentic behavior."
Why it matters: The announcement comes as tensions between the U.S. and Iran have escalated in the wake of the Trump administration's withdrawal from a multinational agreement aimed at controlling Iran's nuclear program.
Details: The cybersecurity firm FireEye, which Facebook said first flagged the operation, issued a report that detailed "inauthentic social media accounts posing as everyday Americans that were used to promote content from inauthentic news sites."
"In addition to utilizing fake American personas that espoused both progressive and conservative political stances," according to FireEye, "some accounts impersonated real American individuals, including a handful of Republican political candidates that ran for House of Representatives seats in 2018."
