Facebook removes hundreds of accounts 'linked to Iran' after mysterious, co-ordinated behaviour

Accounts spent tens of thousands of dollars on ad campaigns

(Getty)

Facebook has removed hundreds of accounts it accused of being linked to "coordinated inauthentic behaviour" coming from Iran.

The company claims the 783 pages, accounts and groups were being used to disrupt politics and elections and have now been shut down.

The latest purge is the latest in a run of removals that have also seen thousands of accounts linked to Myanmar, Bangladesh and Russia taken off the site.

The accounts on Facebook and Instagram typically misrepresented themselves as locals in more than two dozen countries ranging from Afghanistan, Germany, India, Saudi Arabia and the U.S.

Facebook said Thursday the accounts spent about $30,000 on advertisements, paid for in U.S. dollars, British pounds, Canadian dollars and euros.

The company said Twitter helped its investigation by sharing information about suspicious activity it found on its own service. The companies, along with others in the tech industry, have been cooperating more when it comes to such account takedowns by sharing information.

Such cooperation can help the companies avoid regulatory scrutiny by showing critics and lawmakers that they can set aside differences when it comes to battling outside threats that affect their users.

The latest removed accounts, Facebook said, typically represented themselves as locals in various countries, often using fake accounts and posting news stories on current events. This included using stories from Iranian state media about conflicts in Syria and Yemen.

Additional reporting by agencies