Facebook says it sold political ads to Russian company during 2016 election

Source: Washington Post & CNN

2 sources WaPo & Money CNN: http://money.cnn.com/2017/09/06/media/facebook-russia-ads-2016-election/index.html

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Representatives of Facebook told congressional investigators Wednesday that it has discovered it sold ads during the U.S. presidential election to a shadowy Russian company seeking to target voters, according to several people familiar with the companys findings.

Facebook officials reported that they traced the ad sales, totaling $100,000, to a Russian troll farm with a history of pushing pro-Kremlin propaganda, these people said.

A small portion of the ads, which began in the summer of 2015, directly named Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton, the people said. Most of the ads focused on pumping politically divisive issues such as gun rights and immigration fears, as well as gay rights and racial discrimination.

The acknowledgment by Facebook comes as congressional investigators and special counsel Robert Mueller are probing Russian interference in the U.S. election, including allegations that the Kremlin may have coordinated with the Trump campaign.

The U.S. intelligence community concluded in January that Russia had interfered in the U.S. election to help elect Trump, including by using paid social media trolls to spread fake news intended to influence public opinion.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/facebook-says-it-sold-political-ads-to-russian-company-during-2016-election/2017/09/06/32f01fd2-931e-11e7-89fa-bb822a46da5b_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_russianads-410pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory

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2 sources WaPo & Business CNN