"Blacktivist" fake social media accounts have been tied to the Russian government, which used the handle on Facebook and Twitter in an attempt to raise racial tensions during the U.S. elections, CNN reported on Thursday, citing exclusive sources.
The network reported that the Blacktivist Twitter account has been given to Congress with the Facebook account being handed over in the next few days. The Facebook account had generated 360,000 likes, which was more than the verified Black Lives Matter account on Facebook, which has a little more than 310,000, CNN said.
On Twitter, Blacktivist had posted more than 1,000 tweets with nearly 200 followers and more than 560 likes. The Twitter account also linked to an anonymous blog, where articles were posted about racism and African-Americans.
The Hill reported that Twitter representatives met with staff from the House and Senate Intelligence committees on Thursday to brief them on how Russian trolls and bots may have used the social media website to influence the 2016 election.
Facebook said, per The Hill, that it found about 470 accounts linked to Russia that had bought thousands of ads on the platform and some of the ads were targeted as raising tension on social issues.
The Blacktivist account publicized several actual rallies that were organized by other groups, CNN reported. One event promoted the 50th anniversary of the Black Panther Party while another highlighted a march commemorating Freddie Gray, the Baltimore resident who died while in police custody in 2015.
"We are fed up with police violence, racism, intolerance and injustice that passed down from generation to generation. We are fed up with government ignorance and the system failing black people," the page describing the march for Freddie Gray read, CNN noted.
That same march was covered by RT, a television network funded by the Russian government, CNN added.
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