Russian trolls had huge presence on social media
SAN FRANCISCO — As many as 126 million people — or one-third the U.S. population — may have seen material posted by a Russian troll farm under fake Facebook identities between 2015 and 2017, according to planned testimony by Facebook’s general counsel obtained by USA TODAY.
The figure is the largest yet of the possible reach Russian operatives had on the giant social platform in the runup to last year’s presidential election and reflects Facebook’s new disclosures that a Kremlin-linked misinformation agency used original content in users’ feeds, as well as paid ads. Previously Facebook said 10 million people saw Russia-linked advertising that sought to sway U.S. voters.
Twitter, which originally said it found 201 accounts linked to Russia that were sending out automated, election-related content, also increased its estimates of the reach these operatives had on its platform. It has now found 36,746 such accounts, according to testimony to be presented by the company’s acting general counsel Sean Edgett.
The companies’ testimony before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism shows that Russian attempts to influence U.S. voters by using the power of social media platforms and an understanding of hot-button social issues was much broader than originally thought.
Facebook says some 11.4 million people in the U.S. saw at least one ad that was paid for by the Russian troll farm known as the Internet Research Agency between January 2015 and August 2017.
And because people frequently share material, Facebook estimates that about 126 million people might have seen this divisive material.