Facebook Bans a Russian Network That Used Influencers to Defame COVID-19 Vaccines

On Tuesday, Facebook declared that it was successful in tracing the network involved in targeting influencers, aimed to criticize the COVID-19 vaccine. The social media giant removed hundreds of accounts linked to the mysterious advertising agency operating out of Russia and paid influencers from different regions to defame COVID-19 vaccines made by Pfizer and AstraZeneca.  

The company reports that the campaign was sloppy as it attracted a limited audience. It further mentioned that 65 Facebook accounts and 243 Instagram accounts have been removed linked to Fazze, a marketing firm working in Russia on behalf of an unknown client. These accounts were spreading false news through memes. One such misleading meme was that AstraZeneca jab would turn a person into Chimpanzee. Another leaked AstraZeneca document questioned the safety of the Pfizer vaccine. Their main target was the audience from India, Latin America, and the U.S. Their ploy was exposed when they contacted some influencers from Germany and France who refused to work for them and went public.  

The objective of this unethical scheme is not known, but according to some analysts, the Russian active marketing of its vaccine, Sputnik V could be the reason.