Facebook blocks more accounts as it fights US vote meddling

 © The Associated Press   FILE - In this May 16, 2012, file photo, the Facebook logo is displayed on an iPad in Philadelphia. Facebook says it has blocked 115 accounts for suspected “coordinated inauthentic” behavior on the eve of U.S. midterm elections. The social media company said in a blog post late Monday, Nov. 5, 2018 that it shut down 30 Facebook accounts and 85 Instagram and says it’s investigating them in more detail. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File) 

From Associated Press

Facebook says it blocked more accounts on Election Day, in addition to the 115 it shut down earlier this week, due to suspected connections to foreign efforts to interfere in the vote.

The social media giant said it blocked an unspecified number of accounts Tuesday evening after a website that claimed to be associated with the Russia-based Internet Research Agency published a list of Instagram accounts it says it created.

Facebook said it had already blocked most of those accounts and has now blocked the rest.

A day earlier, the company had suspended 30 Facebook accounts and 85 Instagram accounts after a law enforcement tipoff they may have been linked to foreign entities.

U.S. tech companies have stepped up efforts to fight disinformation campaigns by Russian groups, who authorities accuse of swaying the 2016 presidential election.

 © Paul Sakuma/AP Photo   A Facebook user on her computer.