Under intensifying scrutiny from federal investigators and the public, Facebook said on yesterday – Sunday 1st October that it planned to turn over more than 3,000 Russian-linked advertisements to congressional investigators on Monday 2nd October, 2017.
The decision, which comes after a week of scathing calls from Congress for details about Facebook’s advertising system, is the latest attempt by a major technology company to disclose the scope of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Last week, Mark Zuckerberg, the chief executive of Facebook, vowed to work with investigators and other technology companies in an attempt to snuff out the spread of false news stories and bogus accounts across their sites. It is a growing threat that Facebook and similar companies have begun to come to terms with only in recent months.
“It is a new challenge for internet communities to deal with nation-states attempting to subvert elections,†Mr. Zuckerberg said in a live video address on Facebook last week. “But if that’s what we must do, we are committed to rising to the occasion.â€
Facebook has yet to disclose the types of advertisements and content the company will hand over. But media reports have linked the posts to issues such as religion, race, gun ownership and other politically charged topics.
Credit: nytimes