Tag: Facebook

What Trump left out of his tweets about Facebook and Russia

The following article by Callum Borchers was posted on the Washington Post website February 19, 2018:

As President Trump emerged from the White House Feb. 16, 2018, he declined to answer reporters’ questions about Russia. (The Washington Post)

President Trump’s weekend tweetstorm included a shout-out to Facebook executive Rob Goldman, who in his own tweets had argued three points that Trump found supportive to his claim that there was no collusion between Russia and Trump’s presidential campaign.

  1. Most of the 3,300 Russia-linked Facebook ads that the social network discovered and disclosed last fall were designed to sow discord in the U.S. political system, not to swing the 2016 presidential election in Trump’s favor.
  2. Most of the Russian ad spending occurred after Election Day.
  3. The media does not cover these points.

Continue reading “What Trump left out of his tweets about Facebook and Russia”

Russians got tens of thousands of Americans to RSVP for their phony political events on Facebook

The following article by Craig Timberg and Elizabeth Dwoskin was posted on the Washington Post website January 25, 2018:

Facebook, Twitter reveal Russian meddling during 2016 election (The Washington Post)

Russian operatives used Facebook to publicize 129 phony event announcements during the 2016 presidential campaign, drawing the attention of nearly 340,000 users — many of whom said they were planning to attend — according to a company document released by the Senate Intelligence Committee Thursday.

It’s not possible to know how often people gathered in response to the sham announcements, but the numbers highlight how Russian operatives were successful in prompting Americans to express a willingness to act. In some cases, Russians allegedly working in an office building in St. Petersburg motivated at least some people to mobilize behind various causes, a striking accomplishment for a foreign influence campaign. Continue reading “Russians got tens of thousands of Americans to RSVP for their phony political events on Facebook”

Kremlin Cash Behind Billionaire’s Twitter and Facebook Investments

The following article by Jesse Drucker was posted on the New York Times website November 5, 2017:

Leaked files show that a state-controlled bank in Moscow helped to fuel Yuri Milner’s ascent in Silicon Valley, where the Russia investigation has put tech companies under scrutiny.

Yuri Milner, right, speaks next to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg at an announcement for the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences at Genentech Hall on UCSF’s Mission Bay campus in San Francisco, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

In the fall of 2010, the Russian billionaire investor Yuri Milner took the stage for a Q. and A. at a technology conference in San Francisco. Mr. Milner, whose holdings have included major stakes in Facebook and Twitter, is known for expounding on everything from the future of social media to the frontiers of space travel. But when someone asked a question that had swirled around his Silicon Valley ascent — Who were his investors? — he did not answer, turning repeatedly to the moderator with a look of incomprehension.

Now, leaked documents examined by The New York Times offer a partial answer: Behind Mr. Milner’s investments in Facebook and Twitter were hundreds of millions of dollars from the Kremlin.

Obscured by a maze of offshore shell companies, the Twitter investment was backed by VTB, a Russian state-controlled bank often used for politically strategic deals. Continue reading “Kremlin Cash Behind Billionaire’s Twitter and Facebook Investments”

Russian content on Facebook, Google and Twitter reached far more users than companies first disclosed, congressional testimony says

The following article by Craig Timberg and Elizabeth Dwoskin was posted on the Washington Post website October 30, 2017:

Credit: Matt Rourke, AP

Facebook plans to tell lawmakers on Tuesday that 126 million of its users may have seen content produced and circulated by Russian operatives, many times more than the company had previously disclosed about the reach of the online influence campaign targeting American voters.

The company previously reported that an estimated 10 million users had seen ads bought by Russian-controlled accounts and pages. But Facebook has been silent regarding the spread of free content despite independent researchers suggesting that it was seen by far more users than the ads were.

Tuesday’s planned disclosure, contained in draft company testimony obtained by The Washington Post ahead of three Capitol Hill hearings this week, comes as Facebook and other tech giants face mounting pressure to fully investigate the Russian campaign to influence American voters and reveal their findings to the public. Continue reading “Russian content on Facebook, Google and Twitter reached far more users than companies first disclosed, congressional testimony says”

Sen. Amy Klobuchar pushes for transparency in Google, Facebook, Twitter political ads

The following article by Maya Rao was posted on the Star Tribune website October 19, 2017:

The stronger proposed disclosure rules from Minnesota’s Klobuchar and colleagues are aimed at diluting Russian interference in elections.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., left, and Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., speak about online political ads and preventing foreign interference in U.S. elections, during a news conference, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

WASHINGTON – Sen. Amy Klobuchar and a group of fellow U.S. senators are proposing stronger disclosure rules for paid political ads on sites like Facebook, Google and Twitter, in an effort to prevent covert foreign influence of American elections.

The legislation they unveiled Thursday follows revelations that Russian interests bought online ads during the 2016 presidential campaign, which are not subject to the same disclosure requirements of radio and TV ads. It’s a loophole that’s grown wider as more voters primarily get information online, and the senators said they would push to enact a law before the 2018 midterm elections.

“This exposes a national security vulnerability when it comes to online ads, a space where our laws have failed to keep up with technology,” Klobuchar said at a news conference. She is sponsoring the measure along with Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee; and Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican who chairs the Armed Services Committee. Continue reading “Sen. Amy Klobuchar pushes for transparency in Google, Facebook, Twitter political ads”

Russian Facebook ads showed a black woman firing a rifle, amid efforts to stoke racial strife

The following article by Adam Entous, Craig Timberg and Elizabeth Dwoskin was posted on the Washington Post website October 2, 2017:

Both Facebook and Twitter say Kremlin-linked organizations used their platforms to try and influence voters during the 2016 election. Here’s how. (The Washington Post)

One of the Russian-bought advertisements that Facebook shared with congressional investigators on Monday featured photographs of an armed black woman “dry firing” a rifle — pulling the trigger of the weapon without a bullet in the chamber, according to people familiar with the investigation.

Investigators believe the advertisement may have been designed to encourage African American militancy and, at the same time, to stoke fears within white communities, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the probe. But the precise purpose of the ad remains unclear to investigators, the people said. Continue reading “Russian Facebook ads showed a black woman firing a rifle, amid efforts to stoke racial strife”

Russian operatives used Facebook ads to exploit America’s racial and religious divisions

The following article by Adam Entous, Craig Timberg and Elizabeth Dwoskin was posted on the Washington Post website September 25, 2017:

Facebook announced on Sept. 21 that it would turn over copies of 3,000 political ads brought by Russian accounts during the 2016 election, after previously showing some to congressional investigators. (The Washington Post)

The batch of more than 3,000 Russian-bought ads that Facebook is preparing to turn over to Congress shows a deep understanding of social divides in American society, with some ads promoting African American rights groups, including Black Lives Matter, and others suggesting that these same groups pose a rising political threat, say people familiar with the covert influence campaign.

The Russian campaign — taking advantage of Facebook’s ability to send contrary messages to different groups of users based on their political and demographic characteristics — also sought to sow discord among religious groups. Other ads highlighted support for Democrat Hillary Clinton among Muslim women. Continue reading “Russian operatives used Facebook ads to exploit America’s racial and religious divisions”

Facebook to Turn Over Russian-Linked Ads to Congress

The following article by Scot Shane and MIke Isaac was posted on the New York Times website September 21, 2017:

WASHINGTON — Under growing pressure from Congress and the public to reveal more about the spread of covert Russian propaganda on Facebook, the company said on Thursday that it was turning over more than 3,000 Russia-linked ads to congressional committees investigating the Kremlin’s influence operation during the 2016 presidential campaign.

“I care deeply about the democratic process and protecting its integrity,” Facebook’s chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, said during an appearance on Facebook Live, the company’s video service. He added that he did not want anyone “to use our tools to undermine democracy.” Continue reading “Facebook to Turn Over Russian-Linked Ads to Congress”

Emails show Trump appointees undermined Facebook CEO Zuckerberg’s Glacier visit

The following article by Lisa Rein was posted on the Washington Post website September 7, 2017:

A hiker in Glacier National Park. Credit: Ben Herndon

When Facebook’s communications chief approached the National Park Service to ask the agency to show company founder Mark Zuckerberg how the warming climate is melting ice sheets at Glacier National Park, scientists, park rangers and public affairs staff were giddy with excitement.

“This is going to be great!” wilderness specialist Kyle Johnson wrote in an email June 21 to Facebook’s Derick Mains as planning for a July 15 tour got underway. When Mains had approached him two days earlier, Johnson responded, “I think something like this would be outstanding for all. … Thanks for helping us showcase Glacier.”

The U.S. Geological Survey’s public affairs office was thrilled to make the park’s top climate scientist, a USGS staffer, available to Zuckerberg to explain how global warming is altering the ecosystem of the northern  Rockies. Continue reading “Emails show Trump appointees undermined Facebook CEO Zuckerberg’s Glacier visit”