Staten Island politicians and a good government group are speaking out after NY1 revealed who is behind Facebook accounts that are misleading voters about the positions of local officials and candidates. NY1's Amanda Farinacci filed the following report.

A watchdog group says it's not right, weighing in on a Facebook page, seen in the video above, which looks like something created by the campaign of Janine Materna when she ran for State Assembly last year.

NY1 reported Thursday that it was the work of Staten Island attorney Richard Luthmann, with the knowledge of Materna's opponent.

"It's worse than dirty politics and negative advertising," said Dick Dadey of Citizens Union. "It's outrageous. It's almost borderline libelous."

Materna was battling Ron Castorina in the Republican primary for the Assembly seat on Staten Island's South Shore. 

But the page contained posts supporting the idea of a homeless shelter in the district, showing Materna with President Obama's first attorney general Eric Holder, and more. They were images and positions likely to turn off many voters.

"You can't yell fire in a crowded movie theater. We know that," Dadey said. "You should also not claim to be a candidate, saying certain things that are not true at all and are in fact lies."

Luthmann dug in his heels Thursday, posting on his Facebook page, "Like #CROOKEDHILLARYCLINTON now #BITTERJANINEMATERNA seeks to blame everyone but herself for her failed political campaigns. A typical liberal response!"

NY1 reported that Castorina had communicated with Luthmann about the page. Castorina now tells NY1 that he regrets those chats and wants to apologize to Materna for knowing about the page.

Other politicos also discussed the postings with Luthmann.

Luthmann messaged City Councilman Joe Borelli that photo of Materna with Holder, and Borelli wrote back, "lol...he's like, 'Why am I in a pic with this girl?'"

Borelli then voiced concern that the post could backfire, messaging to Luthmann, "we were talking about it...we all loved it…but then had some convos...it could change the narrative to bullying on women."

"You can see by my comments I implored him to not do this in the future," Borelli said Thursday. "It's something that's abnormal, it's beyond the pale."

Staten Island City Councilwoman Debi Rose, a Democrat, agrees. Luthmann is listed as the administrator of a Facebook page bearing her name.

"I was surprised, I was angry, and I was really devastated that someone would steal my identity, post a fake Facebook page, use my images, and then put words into my mouth that I would never say; that were vile, that were reprehensible, and it was full of misinformation and distortions and lies," Rose said.

NY1 reported that the Materna page contained a disclaimer, but it was clear from the comments that some Facebook users thought it was the real deal.

With social media becoming more and more prominent in elections, watchdogs worry there will be more cases like this one in the future.