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Comment by pjc50 | Hacker News Reader

> "While we've seen influence operations target the same regions in the past, this was the first time our team found two campaigns — from France and Russia — actively engage with one another, including by befriending, commenting and criticizing the opposing side for being fake,"

This version of cyberwar is rubbish.

But yes, it's good that Facebook is also willing to call out Western governments for their covert influence operations, even if that accelerates the hammer being brought down on it. There is no good reason for French military units to be interfering in former colonies in North Africa; let it go.

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> There is no good reason for French military units to be interfering in former colonies in North Africa; let it go.

The French intervention was after both the UN security council (though France is part of it) and, more importantly, Malian authorities asked France for help [0]. "Let it go" in this context means refusing to help someone asking for help when they are on the verge of being overrun by Islamists.

[0] https://www.france24.com/en/20130111-mali-asks-france-milita...

Overt assistance is one thing, covert propaganda operations are another.

Also, the article talks about anti-Russian messaging? Not anti-Islamist?

I was responding to the statement I quoted.

Thanks Jean, yes as someone who have suffer from this kind of war, everything is never black and white....

>There is no good reason for French military units to be interfering in former colonies in North Africa

There are some huge problems with French interventions, but saying there is never a good reason is a bit hyperbolic. For instance, in the case of Mali, assistance was specifically requested by the government as they were losing control of the country. France intervened only once the ECOWAS mission failed and the rebels were prompted to attack.

> There is no good reason for French military units to be interfering in former colonies in North Africa; let it go.

Don't former colonial nations have some measure of responsibility over some of the outcomes in former colonial regions? Certainly staving off the worst case scenarios such as Islamic Fundamentalist groups seems somewhat prudent.

The Malian government asked France to provide help.

The UK would do similar things if the Kenyan government asked for help.

> There is no good reason for French military units to be interfering in former colonies in North Africa; let it go.

Steve Jobs was once asked by a reporter if President Obama should intervene in Syria. He said "Do something, you're fucked. Do nothing, you're fucked"

> There is no good reason for French military units to be interfering in former colonies in North Africa; let it go.

While I absolutely agree, I think it's a bit hypocritical to target only France. The US and the UK do the same thing but somehow aren't banned by Facebook.

The UK even announced a few days ago that they were using a psyops unit to counter vaccination conspiracy theories. The same unit that was previously targeting the Islamic State.

I don't know exactly how they operate but I'm pretty sure they run a large network of social media bots to influence people online.

Disclosure : I'm French so that might color my reaction a bit :)

I'm sure every significant nation does it. It's just a matter of the objective and mode of moderation.

>Facebook said the alleged French accounts "posted primarily in French and Arabic about news and current events including France's policies in Francophone Africa, the security situation in various African countries, claims of potential Russian interference in the election in the Central African Republic (CAR), supportive commentary about French military, and criticism of Russia's involvement in CAR."

>Elections are due to take place in CAR later this month. One post in French read, "The Russian imperialists are a gangrene on Mali! Watch out for the tsarist lobotomy!"

>The alleged Russian accounts, in turn, criticized the French.

Here it seems like it might have been a mix of an earnest attempt to counter Russian disinformation and perhaps some spreading of their own propaganda to influence an election.

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