Facebook Blocks Russia Based Ad Agency Behind COVID-19 Vaccine Smear Campaign

Facebook Inc FB removed multiple accounts linked to a mysterious advertising agency operating out of Russia that sought to pay social media influencers to deride COVID-19 vaccines made by Pfizer Inc PFE and AstraZeneca plc AZN.
A network of 65 Facebook accounts and 243 Instagram accounts was traced back to Fazze, Russia-based advertising and marketing firm working on behalf of an unknown client.
The two-pronged smear campaign, outlined in a detailed Facebook report, first waged war on AstraZeneca's vaccine in late 2020 then launched a second attack on Pfizer's vaccine in May.
The campaign didn't accumulate many followers and failed to recruit influencers to its cause.
One French and one German influencer refused Fazze's reported offer of €2,000 and instead publicized the campaign, leading to inquiries and investigations.
The network used fake accounts to spread misleading claims that disparaged the safety of the vaccines. One claimed AstraZeneca's shot would turn a person into a chimpanzee.
The "Pfizer phase" centered on a 12-page document the campaign claimed was "hacked and leaked" from AstraZeneca.
It included a phony chart showing higher casualty rates from the Pfizer vaccine.
The Pfizer disinformation drop began on May 14 with three articles posted on Medium, Reddit, and ethicalhacker.com within 90 minutes of one another.
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