Lawmakers slam social media giants on Russian ads
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers on Wednesday released a dramatic trove of Facebook ads and other social media posts by Russian operatives that sought to aid Donald Trump’s presidential campaign last year and deepen U.S. political divisions over immigration, gay rights, guns, race and religion.
Russian operatives were secretly able to make skilled use of hot-button political issues and sophisticated targeting on Facebook and Instagram to reach nearly 150 million Americans, nearly half the U.S. population, the lawmakers were told.
Members of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, which held separate hearings Wednesday, leveled blistering criticism at Facebook, Twitter and Google for failing to act aggressively to block Russian use of their social media platforms to sow division before and after last year’s presidential election.
Sen. Richard Burr, RN.C., chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Russian authorities had secretly set up a Facebook account with 250,000 followers that promoted a May 2016 protest at a Houston mosque against “Islamization of Texas” — while another Russian account with 320,000 followers encouraged Muslims to attend a counterprotest.
Dozens of people from both sides showed up and the protests were covered by local news in Houston.
“People were brought together to foment conflict,” Burr said. “Simply put, you must do better to protect the American people, and frankly, your users, from this kind of manipulation.”
Although most of the Russian ads and posts focused on social issues, some specifically aimed to help Trump and damage his rival, Hillary Clinton. Some urged viewers to attend Trump political rallies, or falsely claimed voters could cast ballots on Twitter. Some of the phony ads received tens of thousands of clicks.