Facebook removes 82 fake pages, groups and accounts tied to Iran 1 million US and British followers were victims of disinformation activity Washington: Facebook Inc said on Friday it had deleted accounts originating in Iran that attracted more than 1 million US and British followers, its latest effort to combat disinformation activity on its platform. Social media companies are struggling to stop attempts by people inside and outside the United States to spread false information on their platforms with goals ranging from destabilising elections by stoking hardline positions to supporting propaganda campaigns. The fake Facebook accounts originating in Iran mostly targeted American liberals, according to the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab, a think-tank that works with Facebook to study propaganda online. Facebook said it removed 82 pages, groups and accounts on Facebook and Instagram that represented themselves as being American or British citi...

Nuclear Agreement with Iran Has Not Contributed to Peace or Security The Trump White House has been a  purveyor  of very well-founded criticism of the 2015 Iran  nuclear deal , formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Countering the narrative about the agreement curtailing progress toward a nuclear weapon, administration officials  contend  that the JCPOA actually paves Iran’s way toward becoming a nuclear power. But this is not the sole or even the primary focus of the criticism, nor should it be. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley have instead focused on the broader intentions behind the JCPOA, as outlined in its preamble, which  states that the signatories “anticipate that full implementation of this JCPOA will positively contribute to regional and international peace and security.” Nearly 22 months after the deal was implemented, this has not come to pass. Quite the contrary, the Islam...