Big Tech Reveals 25,000 Misinformation Posts Removed From Their Platforms

Global tech giants have removed thousands of deceptive posts, scam ads, and fake profiles linked to Australia over the past year, as they scramble to combat a surge in online misinformation and digital fraud.

On June 5, eight tech companies—Google, Meta, Apple, Adobe, TikTok, Microsoft, Twitch, and RedBubble—published reports explaining what they are doing to fight false or harmful content online in Australia, as required by Australia’s Code of Practice on Disinformation and Misinformation.

The scale of online misinformation in Australia is stark. In a single year, YouTube scrubbed over 123,000 videos, Meta pulled 95,000 political ads, and TikTok took down nearly 150,000 posts for policy violations.

Microsoft removed over 1,200 LinkedIn accounts spreading false information, while Apple received 2,700 valid complaints involving 1,300 news articles.

Several prominent players affiliated with The Digital Industry Group (DIGI) — including X and Snapchat — declined to publish Australia-specific figures.

Election Ads and Scam Content Under Scrutiny

In 2024, political advertising remained a major battleground.

Google blocked more than 42,000 election-related ads from unverified advertisers, while Meta removed more than 95,000 ads breaching its policies on social issues, elections, and politics.

In addition to ads, Meta purged over 14,000 misinformation-laced ads in Australia, took action on 350 misleading posts across Facebook and Instagram, and issued warnings on 6.9 million posts flagged by third-party fact-checkers.

YouTube’s moderation also ramped up. The platform removed 123,128 Australian-uploaded videos for Community Guidelines violations, including 5,169 flagged for scams, misleading content, or misinformation.

Notably, more than 74 percent of these were taken down after receiving 10 or fewer views, signalling early detection. YouTube also handled 8,484 content appeals from Australian creators, reinstating 1,243 videos after review.

Mainstream Platforms Confront Integrity Threats

Misinformation is no longer confined to fringe sites. Microsoft banned over 1,200 users from LinkedIn for sharing false information, while Apple processed thousands of misinformation complaints tied to mainstream news articles.

TikTok reported 148,341 removals in Australia under its Integrity & Authenticity policies in 2024.

“The platform also reported an increase in the proportion of Integrity and Authenticity Community Guidelines violations we detected on our platform in Australia in 2024, with Integrity and Authenticity violations accounting for between 1.20 percent—1.90 percent of all Community Guidelines violations compared to 0.90 percent—1.70 percent in 2023,” the company stated.

Meta continues to battle fake activity at scale, estimating that in the first quarter of 2025, fake accounts represented approximately 3 percent of global monthly active Facebook users—potentially tens of millions of inauthentic profiles.

Despite the volume, Meta says it has improved speed and accuracy in removing these accounts.

Hamas, Ukraine Conflicts Drive Global Disinformation Spike

Geopolitical flashpoints have triggered a surge in online misinformation, highlighting the growing role of digital platforms as frontlines in global conflict.

Following Hamas’s October 2023 attacks on Israel, YouTube removed over 130,000 videos, shut down more than 5,500 channels, and deleted 350 million conflict-related comments.

Since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the platform has taken down over 152,000 videos and 12,000 channels for spreading hate speech, inciting violence, or pushing false narratives.

Russia, China top sources of disinformation: Meta

Meta’s transparency report also identified the key global actors behind coordinated disinformation campaigns.

Russia and China continue to dominate the landscape of global disinformation campaigns disrupted by Meta. Since 2017, Meta has taken down 39 Russian-origin operations—the highest from any country, followed by Iran with 31 and China with 11.

One of the most notorious Russian campaigns, dubbed “Doppelganger,” was first exposed in 2022.

It supported Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine by running a sprawling network of websites impersonating legitimate Western media outlets to spread pro-Kremlin propaganda.

Meta traced the operation to two Russian firms—Structura National Technology and the Social Design Agency—both of which were banned from its platforms and later sanctioned by the European Union.

Meta’s latest investigation also uncovered ties between the campaign and individuals associated with the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), a prominent Russian university.

The report highlighted that Meta disrupted 20 covert influence networks across four quarters in 2024, targeting online users with deceptive content.

In the first half, it took down operations linked to Bangladesh, China, Croatia, Iran, Israel, Russia, Vietnam, and the U.S. The third quarter saw disruptions involving India, Lebanon, Iran, and Moldova, followed by removals from Benin, Ghana, and China in the final months.

These networks often targeted foreign audiences. While most were dismantled early, the report warns that their scale points to a sustained global effort to manipulate public opinion through fake accounts, deceptive pages, and disinformation.