Zuck you, Russia!
FACEBOOK TO TELL ALL ON ELEX MEDDLING
MARK ZUCKERBERG pledged Thursday to make Facebook political advertisements more transparent and to give information on thousands of Russialinked ads to investigators looking into election meddling.
The platform with 2 billion users announced earlier this month that pages linked to the former Soviet Union spent $50,000 buying political ads on issues such as immigration and gun rights leading up to last year’s election.
Zuckerberg originally denied that disinformation on his ubiquitous creation had played a role in the election of President Trump and others last November.
But the 33-year-old billionaire wunderkind, who’s rumored to have his own political ambitions, used his Facebook Live video streaming platform on Thursday to say, “I don’t want anyone to use our tools to undermine democracy.”
He unveiled nine steps he is going to take to “protect election integrity.”
Zuckerberg said he’s releasing information on 3,000 Russian ads to Congress, and added that Facebook had already made the data available to the office of special counsel Robert Mueller, who is leading his own probe into election meddling and any potential collusion from Americans.
A joint report from U.S. intelligence agencies this January included a large section about the Kremlin using social media in an attempt to swing the election toward President Trump.
Reports last week also showed that Facebook, along with other technology companies such as Google and Twitter, allow those advertising to cater specifically to certain hate groups such as those who identify as “Jew haters.” Zuckerberg said that, similar to political spots on television or the radio, ads on Facebook will now have to disclose what page is paying for them.
His company will also begin working on allowing users to see what ads pages are sending to other users, conceivably allowing anyone to see if a group is targeting those with hateful ideologies.
Facebook’s other postelection promises include continuing its own investigation into possible political abuse, starting “proactive” measures to promote democracy such as voter registration initiatives and enhanced security.
The social network said earlier this month that close to 500 “inauthentic accounts” had been removed after its election-related review.
The House Intelligence Committee’s top Democrat, California Rep. Adam Schiff, said the information “should help us better understand what happened.”
Schiff said he also wants officials from Facebook, as well as other Silicon Valley stalwarts such as Google and Twitter, to testify in open hearings.
Mueller, meanwhile, continues to expand his probe into Trump associates and their connections to Russia during the campaign.
He has reportedly asked for phone records related to a statement crafted on Air Force One about Donald Trump Jr.’s meeting with a Moscow-linked lawyer, according to Politico.