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Facebook just nuked thousands of Iranian and Russian troll accounts for lying about who they were and what they were doing. But the latest cull didn’t just take out your usual lame propaganda meme dumpers. One of the accounts dedicated its efforts to harassing reporters with much more serious intimidation tactics from Tehran. So who’s behind the account and what was it up to?
Coordinated authentic harassment: A quick glance at the content examples Facebook used in its announcement doesn’t reveal too much outside what you’d expect from sock puppet propaganda accounts. There are the usual anti-Israel and anti-Western memes, accounts that promote flattering content about Iran’s Supreme Leader, and fist-bumps to Iranian allies like Venezuela.