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US Congressmen Reveal Thousands of Facebook Ads Bought By Russian Trolls (mercurynews.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee on Thursday released about 3,400 Facebook ads purchased by Russian agents around the 2016 presidential election on issues from immigration to gun control, a reminder of the complexity of the manipulation that Facebook is trying to contain ahead of the midterm elections. The ads, which span from mid-2015 to mid-2017, illustrate the extent to which Kremlin-aligned forces sought to stoke social, cultural and political unrest on one of the Web's most powerful platforms. With the help of Facebook's targeting tools, Russia's online army reached at least 146 million people on Facebook and Instagram, its photo-sharing service, with ads and other posts, including events promoting protests around the country...
Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said lawmakers would continue probing Russia's online disinformation efforts. In February, Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel investigating Russia and the 2016 election, indicted individuals tied to the IRA for trying to interfere in the presidential race. "They sought to harness Americans' very real frustrations and anger over sensitive political matters in order to influence American thinking, voting and behavior," Schiff said in a statement. "The only way we can begin to inoculate ourselves against a future attack is to see first-hand the types of messages, themes and imagery the Russians used to divide us...."
The documents released Thursday also reflect that Russian agents continued advertising on Facebook well after the presidential election... They marketed a page called Born Liberal to likely supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., the data show, an ad that had more than 49,000 impressions into 2017. Together, the ads affirmed the fears of some lawmakers, including Republicans, that Russian agents have continued to try to influence U.S. politics even after the 2016 election. Russian agents also had created thousands of accounts on Twitter, and in January, the company revealed that it discovered more than 50,000 automated accounts, or bots, with links to Russia.
Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said lawmakers would continue probing Russia's online disinformation efforts. In February, Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel investigating Russia and the 2016 election, indicted individuals tied to the IRA for trying to interfere in the presidential race. "They sought to harness Americans' very real frustrations and anger over sensitive political matters in order to influence American thinking, voting and behavior," Schiff said in a statement. "The only way we can begin to inoculate ourselves against a future attack is to see first-hand the types of messages, themes and imagery the Russians used to divide us...."
The documents released Thursday also reflect that Russian agents continued advertising on Facebook well after the presidential election... They marketed a page called Born Liberal to likely supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., the data show, an ad that had more than 49,000 impressions into 2017. Together, the ads affirmed the fears of some lawmakers, including Republicans, that Russian agents have continued to try to influence U.S. politics even after the 2016 election. Russian agents also had created thousands of accounts on Twitter, and in January, the company revealed that it discovered more than 50,000 automated accounts, or bots, with links to Russia.
but they didn't have any mod points.
In my parts about any political force is using shills on forums and even at physical manifestations. Did not democrats use them?
If not, it is very nice of them, but a bit naive.
Imagine that. Facebook has revenues of roughly 30+ Billion/year, it's no wonder it's taken so long for the specifics to surface. If you wanted to find them you would have had to use a microscope and tweezers.
P.S. I'd suspect more people voted for Lemon Pledge due to facebook ads than were influenced Russians.
You might say: "But, but, the United State of America is a sovereign state, it's the voters and alone the voters who need to decide". Sure, but there is propaganda bought by the parties themselves, by multinational corporations having no allegiance to any country, and whoever wants to put money into influencing a vote. Don't forget that the US likes to interfere with elections of other countries too, but that's a-ok, right?
Is it perhaps, just the admission that voters are easily swayed by bad propaganda that is hard to admit?
Ahhh...the great dumpster continuum. Many a free computer will be found there. -- sowth (748135)
"The only way we can begin to inoculate ourselves against a future attack is to see first-hand the types of messages, themes and imagery the Russians used to divide us...."
/sarcasm
If they did anything, it's profit on already pre-existing divisions, they are certainly not the cause of it. There already were stories about some 17yr old KIDS from Poland or Hungary or something creating fake sites / and raking it thousands of dollars in ad revenue (by exploiting the already existing division between left and right)
I'm bored of saying it but... Yes, it's all Russia's fault.
Reason Trump got elected - Russia.
Reason BREXIT happpened - Russia.
When somebody gets poisoned... you know who did it ? - Russia
Doping scandals - Russia
When you come from that part of the world, the money is 100% motivation. When you grow up not having any, all you can think off is getting it, especially if you're a teen and your parents always were and are broke - something most Americans can't understand.
The political situation in US (and religious in the world) is RIPE for making money on, you just have to have a little bit of imagination and have to be kept down for a very long time.
The article is just fluff we all already knew. Show me a link to the actual ads.
I guess some people who go with the flow would've seen these posts and believed them. Personally when I see a person being overly political online I tend to either follow or block them.I have pub rules for social media. No politics/religion.
... about the writer's use of a four-dot ellipsis. What the heck were you thinking?
...
Everyone here seems to think this is no big deal, and that's a bit odd. The main reason it's a big deal is because it skirts campaign finance laws, which encourages American politicians to court relationships with foreign states who want them elected. If you have a foreign state financing your campaign, that's something the American people really should know. More information and more transparency is better.
The next reason why it's a big deal is that Russia's reason for doing this wasn't about getting Trump elected (they reportedly thought it was impossible) -- it was to weaken the US by stoking more hatred amongst Americans. They're encouraging the far left & right and suppressing the middle group. They've actually succeeded in making you all believe that your "side" winning is more important than working together. Divided you fall.
"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." - Mark Twain
Russians bought ads in the US to push an agenda and sow discontent. So what?
The First Amendment doesn't just protect the right of Americans to speak, it protects the right of Americans to hear all views and propaganda, including that of foreigners. This is also not new. Russia has been trying to sow discontent and anger (including using race as an issue) in the US since the Russian revolution. Conversely, the US has been trying to manipulate public opinion and political systems abroad for a long time. Voice of America is one of the more benign examples; the US government has brought down entire governments through media manipulation.
The US clearly in the past has stood by the principle that broadcasting and distributing political propaganda internationally is legitimate and protected. Censorship of foreign broadcasts is wrong and harmful for the same reason that censorship of domestic broadcasts is wrong and harmful. And that's a principle we should continue to stand by.
If ads as incredibly stupid as the few that anybody has actually shown were so amazingly effective as to decide the election, then Russian/Schmussian; every US entity will be running ads just like them next time.
They'd be idiots not to.
In reality of course, the Dems just plain lost (albeit by a small margin, as is normal lately), something they just can't seem to come to grips with.
If this Russian narrative were true, I'd be hiring every single Russian involved. To advertise chewing gum, if nothing else. They are apparently the most awesome and most cost effective advertisers, ever.
Evidence that Russian operatives bought and paid for ads on Facebook?
Seriously, buying ads is serious crime? I may prefer that the Russians stayed out of campaign advertising, but finding it hard to get too worked up over this. These Russian-backed groups didn't do anything that countless American-backed groups didn't also do...
Tell me Russians snuck into warehouses and tampered with voting machines and I'll be outraged, tell me mark zuckerberg sold them some online ads, hard to get worked up over that.
Ken
RIP free speech, we hardly knew yea....
For ads targeting "Location - Living in: United States", and specifically marked as "US Politics" Can't they just not do that? I seem to recall Zuckerberg was asked about it in the hearing. They shouldn't accept dollars for political ads in Russia either. But I guess they like money.
Regardless of the small magnitude of these ads compared to advertising by the Democrats and Republicans, it is still intriguing to read these ads and the lists of people whom they were intended to target.
It is an interesting look inside the minds of those who would wish to manipulate us.
> Even assuming all that were true, isn't it pretty fucking humiliating to admit that a dozen russians with broken english and a 5 figure budget were SO much more effective than the $Billions worth of marketing people on Hillary's side doing the exact same shit (including plenty of foreigners)?
That argument also doesn't make sense because the Russian ads were trolling both ways, trying to stir up discord, pitting Americans against each other.
They ran Black Lives Matter ads, ads on both sides of the gun control debate, etc. Nearly half their ads were the same type of things the Hillary campaign was saying. Rather than compete with the United States, Russia would rather compete with the Divided States.
The Russians were trying to make black people mad with #BLM stuff, Hillary was trying to make black mad with #BLM stuff. Russia wanted a bunch of ultra-feminist women angry at men, Hillary wanted a bunch of ultra-feminist women angry at men. There's no "Russians beat Hillary", the Russians were running slightly more extreme versions of the same type of ads Hillary was running half the time.
The Russians know we're stronger when we're united. They don't have to fight against us if they can get us to fight against ourselves.
They want Mexicans coming in waving the Mexican flag chanting "Viva Mexico" while working-class Americans get angry and scared. What the Russians don't want is the United States to be United, proud new Americans working alongside those who have been here longer. They want to divide us - chop us up into black America, women vs men, rich vs poor, etc. None of that involves beating Hillary. A lot of it involves taking a lesson from Hillary.
Have
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/MTOkOCK...
In GOD we trust, all others we monitor.
Just because something happens all the time doesn't mean it's not a problem. It's a problem because it's not propaganda in the traditional sense. This is a hostile foreign power. Their interests are directly opposed to us. Their purpose is to weaken us. That's why it's a problem.
The goal is to get real and accurate information that people can understand into their hands. When people work off of bad information bad things happen. When that information is specifically crafted to cause bad decisions on a national stage terrible things happen.
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Our various intelligence agents have said this is all being done by the Russian government through shell companies. That's pretty much a Russian agent. There's also been several independent articles (Colbert did a long one during the election) about how these "Troll Farms" were actually just fronts for the Russian government.
That makes sense when you think about it. Would anybody really spend tens of thousands of dollars on Facebook ads for the lulz? OK, maybe 4chan, but it would be something about a party van or Boaty McBoatface.
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Link: Debbie Wasserman Schultz Resignation
Just before the election, while many people were making their final decisions about which candidate to choose, FBI Director James Comey influenced the election: Comey Tried to Shield the F.B.I. From Politics. Then He Shaped an Election.
I'm amazed that Comey could be so out of touch with social reality.
it's probably not that subjective. You could pretty easily show it if you had the data, a few decades of voter states and a background in statistics. But that's still years and years of work. Historians might tell us what the impact was but Trump will be long gone and the damage done.
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
This is nothing new. Governments propagandize. We do it as well and have for decades. I'm not sure why it's such a big deal now, I guess because the US media that overwhelmingly supported Clinton, first against The Bern and then even more stridently against Trump, got outplayed. Propaganda, in the eyes of the MSM, is their monopoly in the USA.
holy crap. I can't guarantee that i haven't been, indirectly or directly, influenced by these. I like to think i look at everything on the internet as fake until it's been verified multiple times by multiple sources, but I am far more worried about how much further back they go than this representative set. I'd be terrified if was facebook right now looking at/for other "faction" ads that might not be represented here. Thus far I've found the alt right, the alt left, BLM, LGBTQ as being targeted (and it seems like they target you not by challenging you, but agreeing with your existing world view, and slowly ramping up to extremist posts over time)
really, we americans need to look at this and learn from it. Maybe the current extent of our adversarial internal view has been created completely by this campaign, or maybe it has just been magnified. But if you honestly read through a few hundred of these things and don't see an image, or read something that has been forwarded to you or just sitting in the background of a post or page in some form or fashion you really haven't been on the internet.
they are insanely subtle in some cases, an example is a bundle targeting people who liked or followed college humor showing "dumb memes" I couldn't figure out the connection until i realized, every single one had a poster's picture that was a black person, and/or featured a black person. like downright insanity.
as a people(not just americans), we need to stop and think about how much of our opinion is shaded by the internet if not outright based on it. It's easy to say.. meh, nutjob post, or pfft, ad - next.. but seeing these things, for years of your life can make changes happen that you aren't aware of. This isn't a right wing, or left wing, or racial, issue.. this is a human issue. Until there is a technical fix, we really need a mental short circuit that allows us to step back from our own extreme 100% held beliefs and say.. hey what's the other person's stance.. no matter how strongly we disagree.
Carrying 10 more states and 77 more votes isn't really close. It was only a "close" race if you ignore the actual rules and result.
Of course the US doesn't elect it's president by the popular vote, but your numeric framing of the issue is even more misleading. Clinton got 2.86 million more votes from voters overall, but the electoral college means that what mattered was where those votes where more that just the number. It didn't matter if Clinton won California with 100% of the vote, and likewise it didn't matter if Trump won Utah with 100% of the vote. So to really figure out how close it was, you need to focus on the "tipping point" states, a combination of the closest states with enough EVs to swing the election depending upon their outcome. The "tipping point" state in the conventional definition of the term was Wisconsin, as losing that would have made her still lose the EC even if she had won the closer states of Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Clinton lost Pennsylvania by about 44.3k votes, Michigan by about 10.7k votes, and Wisconsin by about 22.7k votes. So those are the margins Clinton would have needed to make up to win, or a higher number of votes in a less optimal mixture of states.
I know Trump lives in the alternative reality where he won the popular vote somehow, but practically speaking his win in the EC was due to those margins, which is less than 100k votes total. That's pretty close for a presidential election. Not as close as 2000 and Bush vs Gore, but still pretty close.
If we judge by results, Russian trolls are a failure. US foreign actions are quite hostile to Russian interests.
Apparently, the problem is that those Russians were advertising, and effectively. The American people are such dolts, so easily duped, that whoever sprays the voters with the most well-crafted hooey will control the election outcome.
It's not expressed in quite those words, of course. It's considered unwise to tell the people you're duping that you think they're idiots. But that's how I understand the complaint.
The voter turnout figures suggest otherwise. About half don't bother voting. No matter how much hooey they are sprayed with, no matter how well-distributed the hooey, no matter how carefully crafted, they just won't fall for it. My guess is, most of them see the products hawked by Team Elephant and Team Donkey to be too awful to support. So they don't
There's no time like the present. Well, the past used to be.
indicted individuals tied to the IRA for trying to interfere in the presidential race.
What? Irish terrorists are getting in on the game, too?
We are so fucked.