Following Facebook and Twitter, Google Targets Iranian Influence Operation
In the wake of influence-campaign takedowns by Facebook and Twitter, Google has issued a report detailing its own efforts to root out foreign influence operatives allegedly tied to an Iranian state-run media broadcaster.
The news comes as President Donald Trump appeared to tweet in opposition to the efforts of the tech behemoths to disrupt such campaigns.
As part of the influence operation allegedly tied to the Iranian government, Google disabled 39 YouTube channels that had 13,466 total US views on relevant videos; six blogs on Blogger and 13 Google+ accounts, according to Kent Walker, senior vice president of global affairs. He also said that Google uses IP blocking and other methods to prevent Iranian entities from opening advertising accounts, and noted that the breadcrumbs appear to lead back to state-sponsored media in Iran.
