Facebook, Twitter delete fake accounts originating in Iran

Facebook and Twitter in a statement on Tuesday said, that they have deleted fake accounts impersonating political candidates and journalists used as part of a pro-Iran social media campaign.

Facebook said it has removed 51 accounts, 36 pages and seven groups on its social media platform as well as three accounts from its Instagram service.

The accounts were run by people who "misled people about who they were and what they were doing," the social media giant said in a statement written by Nathaniel Gleicher, its head of cybersecurity policy.

Facebook said it had concluded that the social media activity had originated in Iran. 

Twitter said in a statement that it removed a network of 2,800 inauthentic accounts originating in Iran at the beginning of May, adding that its investigation was ongoing. 

Facebook said that the decision to delete the accounts came after it investigated a tip from FireEye, an internet security firm.