Facebook is under fire after revealing that a Russian group tied to the Kremlin bought political ads on its platform during the 2016 elections. Lawmakers are demanding answers, and liberal groups, who say the company failed to crack down on fake news, are seizing on the new disclosure. Even Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic nominee, has cited the ads when discussing her loss during a book tour. “We now know that they were sewing discord during the election with phony groups on Facebook,” Clinton told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. “They were running anti-immigrant, anti-me, anti-Hillary Clinton demonstrations. They were putting out the fake news and negative stories untrue to really divide people.” Sen. Mark Warner (Va.), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, has said the company needs to be more forthcoming about the full extent of the ad buys.
Sleeping Giants, an anonymous left-leaning activist group, is turning its sights on Facebook as well. The group gained attention by pressuring 2,600 advertisers to remove their ads from conservative website Breitbart and is now pressing Facebook to be more transparent about how Kremlin-linked groups used the platform.
Beyond revealing that Kremlin-linked Internet Research Group spent $100,000 buying ads on the social media platform in 2016, Facebook has said little else publicly.
Full Article: Facebook under fire over Russian ads in election | TheHill.