Meta: Fake Profiles Targeted Sikhs, Facebook Also Approved Polarizing Adverts

A report by Facebook and Instagram owner Meta says purported Sikh accounts on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, and X (formerly Twitter), criticized the Indian govt. across at least seven countries, including India, were traced back to China. Social media giant Meta recently identified and dismantled over sixty China-linked entities, including accounts, pages, and groups that disseminated and amplified coordinated inauthentic information in the lead-up to the general election in 2024. While Meta has removed these accounts, some of these accounts exist on X, with certain profiles being withheld in India but still operational in other jurisdictions. The identified accounts posted artificially manipulated media to incite pro-Khalistan protests in several countries. These accounts also used Artificial Intelligence (AI), often posting in Hindi and English, urging Western action against the Indian govt. On the other hand, The Guardian reports Meta approved a series of AI-manipulated political adverts during India’s election that spread disinformation and incited religious violence. Facebook approved ads containing known slurs towards Muslims in India as well as Hindu supremacist language and disinformation about political leaders. India Civil Watch International (ICWI) and Ekō, a corporate accountability organization created and submitted such ads to Meta’s ad library – the database of all ads on Facebook and Instagram – to test Meta’s mechanisms for detecting and blocking political content that could prove inflammatory or harmful during India’s six-week election. According to the report, all of the ads ‘were created based upon real hate speech and disinformation prevalent in India, underscoring the capacity of social media platforms to amplify existing harmful narratives.’