Facebook removes 135 profiles

Internet Research Agency (IRA) has been accused of having links with the Russian intelligence service.

US Special Counsel Robert Mueller has accused the company of attempting to influence the 2016 American presidential elections.

"The IRA has repeatedly used complex networks of inauthentic accounts to deceive and manipulate Facebook users, including before, during and after the 2016 US presidential elections. That is why we don't want them on Facebook," Facebook's Chief Security Officer Alex Stamos said in a statement.

The IRA accounts also bought adverts on the social media in an attempt to increase the reach of the message, which ranged from international politics to promoting Russian culture and tourism. In February, Mueller's investigation indicted 13 Russian nationals who were involved with the IRA.

According to Al Jazeera, the 13 Russians conducted “information warfare against the USA” through fictitious US personas on social media and other internet-based media."

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is due to testify before US senate committees on 11 April regarding his company’s use and protection of user data.

Facebook has been under fire since it was revealed that British political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica had unlawfully leaked personal data from some 50 million Facebook users. This figure has now increased, and it is believed that data from 87 million Facebook users was leaked.