Facebook Grapples With a Maturing Adversary in Election Meddling -- NYT

Later in the article: "And experts have suggested that trolls may be trying to build a large and hyper-engaged audience, with the intent of weaponizing the account for more strategic purposes later on."

"“It shows a level of sophistication in retail politics,” said Graham Brookie, the director of the Digital Forensic Lab, which published a report about the material this week.

The recent operation also appears to have been more focused on creating offline chaos, by setting up and promoting Facebook events, such as a counterprotest to a planned white nationalist rally that was co-hosted by one of the suspicious pages, which also had real groups behind it. The event attracted interest from more than 3,000 users.

“They’re better integrated into groups and events,” said Jonathan Albright, the director of the Digital Forensics Initiative at the Tow Center for Digital Journalism. The new group’s goal, Mr. Albright said, appeared to be “pushing real-life events and connecting the online and offline together in some type of activism that results in conflict.”"

Facebook Grapples With a Maturing Adversary in Election Meddling -- NYT