Facebook sold political ads to fake Russian accounts in 2016

Fake accounts probably operated from Russia bought thousands of divisive advertisements on Facebook during the 2016 US election, the social media giant has said.

The revelation could offer the latest evidence of wideranging Russian efforts to interfere with the election, a destabilisation campaign that American intelligence agencies believe proceeded under the direct orders of President Vladimir Putin. Facebook did not mention Mr Putin in a blog post explaining the ad purchases but noted that it was examining “serious claims” tying Russian disruption to Facebook.

According to the post, signed by Facebook chief security officer Alex Stamos, the adverts were more focused on sowing disunity than on promoting a particular candidate. They sought to augment “divisive social and political messages across the ideological spectrum” on topics that included guns, immigration and race, Mr Stamos wrote.

That alleged effort to widen social fissures echoes the conclusion of American intelligence agencies, who said in a declassified report on Russian election interference that while Russia sought to specifically undercut Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton the country also aimed more broadly to “undermine public faith in the US democratic process”.

Facebook has shut down the roughly 470 “inauthentic” counts, which together