In late July, Facebook (FB  ) reportedly uncovered a political influence campaign on its site designed to interfere in the US midterm elections, which will take place in November.

Facebook removed a total of 32 pages and accounts from its site and from its affiliated photo-sharing platform, Instagram. Facebook cited the accounts for "coordinated, inauthentic behavior" intended to mislead other users. The targeted accounts were all created between March 2017 and May of 2018. Between April 2017 and June 2018, the accounts paid $11,000 to run politically-oriented ads. At least one of the accounts had amassed over 290,000 followers; combined, the accounts and pages generated 9,500 organic posts. The posts were primarily about two potentially polarizing issues - a right-wing "Unite the Right" white supremacist rally and the #AbolishICE, a popular hashtag for members of the left hoping to shutter the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

Facebook did not identify a culprit behind the accounts. Nathaniel Gleicher, Facebook's head of cybersecurity policy, said that "at this point in our investigation, we do not have enough technical evidence to state definitively who is behind it." He noted, however, that the accounts used strategies akin to those used by the Internet Research Agency, the Russian group whose members were indicted this year for interfering in the 2016 presidential election: "...We can say that these accounts engaged in some similar activity and have connected with known I.R.A. accounts." Unlike the I.R.A., however, which used Russian internet protocol addresses and paid for ads in rubles, and otherwise were easy to identify, these hackers were more careful to avoid detection. Facebook is working with the FBI and other intelligence agencies as they continue their investigation.

Facebook seems to be learning from its mistakes: the company was criticized roundly for its failure to prevent or even identify the interference in the 2016 election that took place on its platform. Facebook has also been plagued by other issues, including data privacy breaches, alleged political bias, and the general prevalence of misinformation or fake news on its sites. Earlier this year, founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg had to defend Facebook to Congress, and Facebook's woes recently have taken a true financial toll: the company recently lost more than $120 billion in market value.

Other companies are taking the hint. Earlier in July, Twitter (TWTR  ) said it would purge tens of millions of suspicious accounts from its platform.

This is not the only report of apparent midterm election meddling: two Democratic senators up for reelection have apparently been targeted by Russian hackers. And even with Facebook's revamped efforts to limit meddling and misinformation campaigns, it has been difficult to stem the tide, and the company hasn't always been successful.

Lawmakers commended Facebook for identifying and taking action against the problem, and the Congressional Intelligence Committee plans to meet with experts to address the problem.