Melbourne riot police used pepper spray, foam baton rounds and rubber ball grenades to disperse a violent protest against mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations for construction workers on Tuesday.

More than 1,000 demonstrators wearing work boots and hi-vis jackets rampaged through the centre of Australia's second-largest city, lighting flares, throwing bottles, attacking police cars and chanting their opposition to vaccines and lockdown restrictions.

Melbourne has been in strict lockdown for seven weeks, as the city struggles to curb an outbreak of the fast-spreading Delta variant.

Several clusters have been linked to construction sites, where COVID-19&nbsp;containment measures are said to be lax.

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In response, authorities have introduced ever-tougher restrictions, closing work site tea rooms, announcing mandatory vaccination for labourers and, most recently, closing almost all construction sites for two weeks.

For hours protesters opposing the measures confronted police, ignoring loudspeaker calls to leave and a final caution that "no further warnings will be given".

Victoria state chief police commissioner Shane Patton said about 500 officers were responding to the "challenging" situation and had deployed pepper spray, foam baton rounds and rubber ball grenades.

"These crowd control equipment munitions were necessary, and they are necessary, because we can't allow this type of conduct to go on," he said.

"We will stop this protest. And we will then step back and investigate and hold those to account who need to be held to account."

At least three police officers had sustained injuries while more than 40 people had been arrested, Patton added.

Brandishing "Trump" banners and chanting "you serve us", protesters briefly occupied a bridge on one of the city's main thoroughfares and sang a popular 1990s power rock ballad.

A number of journalists were assaulted, including one television reporter who was hit on the head with a can live on air, shortly after another incident in which he was doused with urine.&nbsp;

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Union leaders denounced the protests, saying the issue had been hijacked by anti-vaccine activists and what former Labor party leader Bill Shorten called "man-baby Nazis".

On social media forums that regularly feature anti-vaccine conspiracies, followers were urged to attend, "bring friends" and "wear work gear".

On Monday, more than 100 construction workers in high-visibility vests brawled and smashed union office windows in the centre of Melbourne.

That prompted the authorities to announce the temporary closure of construction sites, leaving tens of thousands of people out of work.

"We've been clear: if you don't follow the rules, we won't hesitate to take action," said state minister for industrial relations Tim Pallas, announcing the shutdown.

"We put the industry on notice just a week ago, we have seen appalling behaviour on site and on our streets, and now we're acting decisively and without hesitation," he said.&nbsp;

Local construction union boss John Setka denounced the protesters, whom he said were hurting the entire workforce.

"Those drunken fascist un-Australian morons are the reason construction workers will be sitting at home and not getting paid for the next two weeks," he said.&nbsp;

The state of Victoria recorded 603 new Covid cases in the past 24 hours.

Australia's two largest cities, Melbourne and Sydney, are currently in lockdown, as they race to vaccinate 80 percent of the population.

That target would trigger gradual reopening, but remains at least a month away for most areas.&nbsp;

Melbourne riot police used pepper spray, foam baton rounds and rubber ball grenades to disperse a violent protest against mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations for construction workers on Tuesday.

Melbourne riot police used pepper spray, foam baton rounds and rubber ball grenades to disperse a violent protest against mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations for construction workers on Tuesday. More than 1,000 demonstrators wearing work boots and hi-vis jackets rampaged through the centre of Australia's second-largest city, lighting flares, throwing bottles, attacking police cars and chanting their opposition to vaccines and lockdown restrictions. Melbourne has been in strict lockdown for seven weeks, as the city struggles to curb an outbreak of the fast-spreading Delta variant. Several clusters have been linked to construction sites, where COVID-19 containment measures are said to be lax. In response, authorities have introduced ever-tougher restrictions, closing work site tea rooms, announcing mandatory vaccination for labourers and, most recently, closing almost all construction sites for two weeks. For hours protesters opposing the measures confronted police, ignoring loudspeaker calls to leave and a final caution that "no further warnings will be given". Victoria state chief police commissioner Shane Patton said about 500 officers were responding to the "challenging" situation and had deployed pepper spray, foam baton rounds and rubber ball grenades. "These crowd control equipment munitions were necessary, and they are necessary, because we can't allow this type of conduct to go on," he said. "We will stop this protest. And we will then step back and investigate and hold those to account who need to be held to account." At least three police officers had sustained injuries while more than 40 people had been arrested, Patton added. Brandishing "Trump" banners and chanting "you serve us", protesters briefly occupied a bridge on one of the city's main thoroughfares and sang a popular 1990s power rock ballad. A number of journalists were assaulted, including one television reporter who was hit on the head with a can live on air, shortly after another incident in which he was doused with urine. Union leaders denounced the protests, saying the issue had been hijacked by anti-vaccine activists and what former Labor party leader Bill Shorten called "man-baby Nazis". On social media forums that regularly feature anti-vaccine conspiracies, followers were urged to attend, "bring friends" and "wear work gear". On Monday, more than 100 construction workers in high-visibility vests brawled and smashed union office windows in the centre of Melbourne. That prompted the authorities to announce the temporary closure of construction sites, leaving tens of thousands of people out of work. "We've been clear: if you don't follow the rules, we won't hesitate to take action," said state minister for industrial relations Tim Pallas, announcing the shutdown. "We put the industry on notice just a week ago, we have seen appalling behaviour on site and on our streets, and now we're acting decisively and without hesitation," he said. Local construction union boss John Setka denounced the protesters, whom he said were hurting the entire workforce. "Those drunken fascist un-Australian morons are the reason construction workers will be sitting at home and not getting paid for the next two weeks," he said. The state of Victoria recorded 603 new Covid cases in the past 24 hours. Australia's two largest cities, Melbourne and Sydney, are currently in lockdown, as they race to vaccinate 80 percent of the population. That target would trigger gradual reopening, but remains at least a month away for most areas.

Police, anti-vaccine protesters clash in Melbourne

Social media giant&nbsp;Facebook has&nbsp;removed a network of accounts from Russia that it linked to a marketing firm that aimed to enlist influencers to push anti-vaccine content about the COVID-19 jabs.

Influencers who caught onto the sham turned out to be the undoing of a deceitful influence campaign orchestrated by marketing firm Fazze in Russia, according to Facebook.

"The assumption was the influencers wouldn't do any of their own homework, but two did," Facebook global threat intelligence lead Ben Nimmo said while briefing journalists.

"It's really a warning,&nbsp;be careful when someone is trying to spoon-feed you a story. Do your own research."

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The company's investigators called the campaign a "disinformation laundromat," creating misleading articles and petitions on forums like Reddit, Medium, and Change.org, and using fake accounts on platforms like&nbsp;Facebook&nbsp;and Instagram to amplify the content.&nbsp;

Facebook&nbsp;said while the majority of the campaign fell flat, the crux of it appeared to be engaging with paid influencers and these posts attracted "some limited attention."

The California-based company&nbsp;said that in July it removed 65 accounts at the leading social network and 243 accounts at photo-centric Instagram that were linked to the campaign, and banned Fazze from its platform.

Fazze is a subsidiary of a AdNow, an advertising company registered in Britain, according to media reports.

The operation targeted primarily India and Latin America, but also took aim at the United States, as governments debated approving vaccines to fight the pandemic, according to Nimmo.

Late last year, the network of fake accounts tried to fuel a false meme that the AstraZeneca vaccine against Covid-19 would turn people into chimpanzees, Facebook reported.

After going quiet for five months, the organisers attacked the safety of the Pfizer vaccine and leaked what it billed as an AstraZeneca document stolen by hacking, Facebook said.

The campaign took advantage of online platforms including Reddit, Medium, Change.org, and Facebook, creating misleading articles and petitions then providing "influencers" with links, hashtags and more to spread vaccine misinformation, according to Nimmo.

"In effect, this campaign functioned as a cross-platform disinformation laundromat," Nimmo said.

Researchers have noted an increase both in "for-hire" influence campaigns and also in deceptive operations targeting real online personalities to deliver messages to these influencers' own ready-made audiences.

Facebook&nbsp;said it took down 65&nbsp;Facebook&nbsp;accounts and 243 Instagram accounts as part of the Fazze-linked operation. It said 24,000 accounts followed one or more of the Instagram accounts. The company said questions about the campaign remained, such as who commissioned Fazze to run it.

Facebook&nbsp;also said in its Tuesday report it had in July removed a separate network in Myanmar, linked to individuals associated with the Myanmar military and targeting audiences in the country. It said the operation used duplicate and fake accounts, some posing as protesters and members of the opposition while others ran pro-military&nbsp;Facebook&nbsp;Pages.

The social network banned the Myanmar military from&nbsp;Facebook&nbsp;and Instagram in February, after the army seized power in a coup.

(With inputs from agencies)

Social media giant Facebook has removed a network of accounts from Russia that it linked to a marketing firm that aimed to enlist influencers to push anti-vaccine content about the COVID-19 jabs.

Social media giant Facebook has removed a network of accounts from Russia that it linked to a marketing firm that aimed to enlist influencers to push anti-vaccine content about the COVID-19 jabs. Influencers who caught onto the sham turned out to be the undoing of a deceitful influence campaign orchestrated by marketing firm Fazze in Russia, according to Facebook. "The assumption was the influencers wouldn't do any of their own homework, but two did," Facebook global threat intelligence lead Ben Nimmo said while briefing journalists. "It's really a warning, be careful when someone is trying to spoon-feed you a story. Do your own research." The company's investigators called the campaign a "disinformation laundromat," creating misleading articles and petitions on forums like Reddit, Medium, and Change.org, and using fake accounts on platforms like Facebook and Instagram to amplify the content. Facebook said while the majority of the campaign fell flat, the crux of it appeared to be engaging with paid influencers and these posts attracted "some limited attention." The California-based company said that in July it removed 65 accounts at the leading social network and 243 accounts at photo-centric Instagram that were linked to the campaign, and banned Fazze from its platform. Fazze is a subsidiary of a AdNow, an advertising company registered in Britain, according to media reports. The operation targeted primarily India and Latin America, but also took aim at the United States, as governments debated approving vaccines to fight the pandemic, according to Nimmo. Late last year, the network of fake accounts tried to fuel a false meme that the AstraZeneca vaccine against Covid-19 would turn people into chimpanzees, Facebook reported. After going quiet for five months, the organisers attacked the safety of the Pfizer vaccine and leaked what it billed as an AstraZeneca document stolen by hacking, Facebook said. The campaign took advantage of online platforms including Reddit, Medium, Change.org, and Facebook, creating misleading articles and petitions then providing "influencers" with links, hashtags and more to spread vaccine misinformation, according to Nimmo. "In effect, this campaign functioned as a cross-platform disinformation laundromat," Nimmo said. Researchers have noted an increase both in "for-hire" influence campaigns and also in deceptive operations targeting real online personalities to deliver messages to these influencers' own ready-made audiences. Facebook said it took down 65 Facebook accounts and 243 Instagram accounts as part of the Fazze-linked operation. It said 24,000 accounts followed one or more of the Instagram accounts. The company said questions about the campaign remained, such as who commissioned Fazze to run it. Facebook also said in its Tuesday report it had in July removed a separate network in Myanmar, linked to individuals associated with the Myanmar military and targeting audiences in the country. It said the operation used duplicate and fake accounts, some posing as protesters and members of the opposition while others ran pro-military Facebook Pages. The social network banned the Myanmar military from Facebook and Instagram in February, after the army seized power in a coup. (With inputs from agencies)

Facebook shuts down Russian network that targeted influencers to peddle anti-vax messages

Conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 has been floating around since the pandemic began. As UK became the first country to start mass vaccination drive, anti-vax protesters also marched through the streets of London.

Protest against vaccine as UK begins mass vaccination