A House committee says it plans to release Facebook election ads tied to Russia.
WASHINGTON — The House Intelligence Committee plans to release a trove of Russian-backed Facebook ads from the 2016 election season after officials from Facebook and two other tech giants testify publicly in November.
The leaders of the committee’s Russia probe, Reps. K. Michael Conaway, R-Midland, and Adam Schiff, DCalif., said Wednesday that they would move “as quick as we can” to release the ads to the public — something Schiff in particular has long urged. Schiff added that the committee would only release the ads once the “personally identifiable information” of individuals who may have unwittingly been made part of the Russian advertising campaign had been redacted.
Facebook identified more than 3,000 advertisements purchased in a Russian-orchestrated campaign to exploit divisions around issues such as race, as well as mislead the American public in the run-up to the 2016 elections. Facebook officials have shared the content of those advertisements with both House and Senate investigators, who are also speaking with officials from Twitter and Google about Russian-backed efforts to manipulate public opinion on their platforms.
Conaway and Schiff’s announcement came after Facebook’s chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg, came to the Capitol to meet with them and members of House leadership Wednesday afternoon.