Meta warns spyware still being used to target people on social media

Facebook owner says companies are adapting and changing tactics in face of efforts to shut down activities

Meta has warned that the use of spyware to indiscriminately target people - including journalists and activists - is a persistent threat because surveillance-for-hire companies continue to adapt and change tactics in the face of efforts to shut down their capabilities.

A report by Facebook's parent company described efforts by the social media group to remove a number of firms, including two linked to Russia, one based in Israel, and an entity in China, all of which were alleged by Meta to have been used to scrape" Facebook and Instagram for users' private information in an attempt to compromise users' accounts.