Social media giant Facebook has recently removed 276 accounts that used fake profiles to pose as right-leaning Americans, the company announced on Thursday.

Facebook had also permanently banned an Arizona-based digital communications firm that it said was behind the fake accounts.

The move was prompted that a pro-Trump group known as Turning Point Action was paying teenagers to post coordinated, supportive messages, a violation of Facebook’s rules.

Facebook and Twitter have been regularly removing fake accounts “both domestic and foreign” that try to insert themselves in the US political discourse and influence the election. But social media companies face broader threats around misinformation that at times come from President Donald Trump himself.

The latest network Facebook removed became active before the 2018 midterm elections and went dormant until June when the accounts began posting on topics including the coronavirus pandemic, criticism of the Democratic Party and its nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden, as well as praise for Trump and other Republicans.

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