Facebook finds plan to disrupt US midterm election, says it could be Russia

US President Donald Trump, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, right. Photo / AP

Facebook says it has uncovered "sophisticated" efforts, possibly linked to Russia, to influence US politics on its platforms.

The company says it removed 32 accounts from Facebook and Instagram because they were involved in "co-ordinated" behaviour and appeared to be fake.

Facebook says it doesn't know who is behind the efforts, but said there are may be connections to Russia.

Facebook says it removed 32 accounts from Facebook and Instagram because they were involved in "co-ordinated" behaviour and appeared to be fake. Photo / AP

Facebook says it has found some connections between the accounts it removed and the accounts connected to Russia's internet Research Agency that it removed before and after the 2016 US presidential elections.

The earliest page was created in March 2017.

Facebook says more than 290,000 accounts followed at least one of the fake pages.

The most followed Facebook Pages were "Aztlan Warriors," "Black Elevation," "Mindful Being," and "Resisters."

Facebook says it has found an effort to disrupt the upcoming US midterm elections. Photo /123rf

Facebook says the pages ran about 150 ads for $US11,000 ($A15,000) on Facebook and Instagram, paid for in US and Canadian dollars.

The first ad was created in April 2017; the last was created in June 2018.

The company added that the perpetrators have been "more careful to cover their tracks" than in 2016, in part because of steps Facebook has taken to prevent abuse over the past year.

For example, they used virtual private networks and internet phone services, and paid third parties to run ads on their behalf.