The following article by Craig Timberg, Elizabeth Dwoskin, Adam Entous and Karoun Demirjian was posted on the Washington Post website November 1, 2017:
On Nov. 1, the House Intelligence Committee released social media advertisements that were pushed by Russian groups to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election. (Joyce Koh/The Washington Post)
Lawmakers on Wednesday released a trove of ads that Russian operatives bought on Facebook, providing the fullest picture yet of how foreign actors sought to promote Republican Donald Trump, denigrate Democrat Hillary Clinton and divide Americans over some of the nation’s most sensitive social issues.
The ads that emerged, a sampling of the 3,000 that Russians bought during the 2016 presidential campaign and its aftermath, demonstrated in words and images a striking ability to mimic American political discourse at its most fractious. The targeting information also showed a shrewd understanding of how best to use Facebook to find and influence voters most likely to respond to the pitches. Continue reading “Russian ads, now publicly released, show sophistication of influence campaign”