10 Facebook ads promoted by Russian-linked groups
The House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday released a batch of ads that demonstrate how Russia attempted to sow discord in the U.S. during the 2016 election. Some of the social media posts aimed to exploit and further inflame religious and racial tensions in the country surrounding groups such as Black Lives Matter and Muslim-Americans.
Some of the ads show Russian-linked Facebook communities promoting events by opposing groups on the same day.
Facebook revealed this month that Russian actors potentially linked to the Kremlin spent $100,000 on political advertisements on the site during last year’s presidential campaign. The social media company has handed over information about the ads to Congress and to Robert Mueller, the special counsel leading the Justice Department’s probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
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The posts released by the House Intelligence Committee can be found here.
Below are 10 of the social media posts linked to Russian groups that were released Wednesday:
A Facebook account by the name Stop A.I., or “All Invaders,” posted a photo of Muslim women wearing traditional black niqabs that cover all but their eyes, accompanied with a message calling for the banning of the religious garb in the U.S.
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The same account also called for its viewers to “kick Sharia [law] out of America.”
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Another account that appeared to center itself around promoting “American values” goes after Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton for being “the co-author of Obama’s anti-police, and anti-Constitutional propaganda.”
The account, named Being Patriotic, created the sponsored Facebook event, “Down with Hillary,” which took place last July in New York City.
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In a sponsored ad, LGBT United urged viewers to color in a bodybuilder-esque drawing of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, in which the coloring book author supposedly was hoping to “stop people from taking this whole thing too serious.”
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An account called Army of Jesus sponsored a post that attacked Clinton, calling her “a satan” and “evil,” while encouraging its followers to vote for Donald Trump, who it said has some flaws but is ultimately an “honest man.”
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The Black Matters account was designed to appear as if it supported the Black Lives Matter movement.
The account seemingly sought to further inflame racial tensions by targeting such groups with its ad, which featured the faces of three young African-American men who were killed by cops, or under police custody, including Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, and Freddie Grey.
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Blacktivist also appeared to exploit racial tensions by claiming the U.S. government disbanded the revolutionary black nationalist group, the Black Panthers, “because they were black men and women standing up for justice and equality.”
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A group account titled Defend the 2nd sought to promote gun rights, claiming to be a “community of 2nd Amendment supporters, guns lovers & patriots.”
The group accumulated more than 96,000 followers, according to the snapshot.
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A group titled Donald Trump America sponsored a White House petition that called for the removal of Hillary Clinton from the presidential ballot.
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Heart of Texas pushed in its sponsored post for a stronger crackdown of border patrol, while railing on Clinton and the Obama administration for granting amnesty.
The post detailed the capture of a “an illegal immigrant from Honduras” who was previously deported from the U.S. after being “convicted of second degree rape.”
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