Facebook confirms Russian ‘ad campaign’

Facebook last night said it had discovered a Russianfunded campaign which aimed to spread divisive social and political messages on its network. The social media giant said that $100,000 (£77,000) was spent on about 3,000 adverts over a two-year period which ended in May this year.

The adverts did not back any US political figures specifically. Rather, they were about topics such as immigration, race and equal rights.

US authorities have launched a probe into the reports. Senior figures at Facebook said they were co-operating with the investigation.

The site said that the advertisements directed users towards around 470 accounts which spread false information or were in breach of its terms and conditions.

In a blog article published yesterday, Facebook said: “The ads and accounts appeared to focus on amplifying divisive social and political messages across the ideological spectrum.”