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A reminder from Al Franken- GRU paid facebook in rubles for anti-Hillary ads in 2016
After it came out that, during the 2016 campaign, Facebook had carried pro-Trump and anti-Hillary ads paid for by the GRU Russian intelligence agency, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing with top executives from Google, Twitter, and Facebook.
It is against the law for foreigners to contribute to an American political campaign, and creating ads and buying ad space is, of course, considered a campaign contribution. In his opening testimony, Facebook’s general counsel testified that Facebook had not been aware that the Russians had bought ads. When it came my turn to question, I turned my focus on him, noting that the Russians had paid for the ads in rubles. That’s right. The GRU paid Facebook in rubles.
It is against the law for foreigners to contribute to an American political campaign, and creating ads and buying ad space is, of course, considered a campaign contribution. In his opening testimony, Facebook’s general counsel testified that Facebook had not been aware that the Russians had bought ads. When it came my turn to question, I turned my focus on him, noting that the Russians had paid for the ads in rubles. That’s right. The GRU paid Facebook in rubles.
This all brings me to last week’s Washington Post article about Trump ads currently being carried on Facebook. Five different fact-checking organizations – including the conservative CheckYourFacts, a part of the Tucker Carlson founded Daily Caller – have each concluded that Trump ads on Facebook, like the ones which falsely claim that Joe Biden has called for defunding police departments, are patently untrue.
While that may not surprise you, what is deeply disturbing is that Facebook is continuing to carry these ads deemed false. And not just by these organizations, but also by Facebook’s own fact-checking program founded in December 2016 in response to the sheer tonnage of mis-and-disinformation that the Trump camp had spewed on its platform during that year’s presidential campaign.
While that may not surprise you, what is deeply disturbing is that Facebook is continuing to carry these ads deemed false. And not just by these organizations, but also by Facebook’s own fact-checking program founded in December 2016 in response to the sheer tonnage of mis-and-disinformation that the Trump camp had spewed on its platform during that year’s presidential campaign.
https://alfranken.com/read/facebook-does-it-again
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