Facebook bans 'inauthentic' accounts targeting Africa

Facebook has removed 265 fake social media accounts that mainly targeted Africa.

In a blog post, head of cybersecurity policy Nathaniel Gleicher said the people behind the network "used fake accounts to run pages, spread content and artificially increase engagement."

The "inauthentic" accounts mainly focused on Nigeria, Senegal, Togo, Angola, Niger and Tunisia, along with "some activity" in Latin America and South East Asia.

"They also represented themselves as locals, including local news organisations, and published allegedly leaked information about politicians," she added.

The social media giant has often faced criticism for doing enough to stamp out misinformation on its platform.