Russian Content Reached More People On Facebook Than Initially Reported

It’s widely believed that Russian operatives used Facebook to spread divisive views in the United States prior to the presidential election last year. Facebook initially reported that around 10 million users in the United States had seen ads that were purchased for this precise reason by accounts and pages linked to Russia. According to a new report, the Russian content may have reached a lot more people than originally reported. The report claims that this content reached 126 million users on Facebook.

The Washington Post reports that Facebook is going to confirm to lawmakers that 126 million users might have seen the content that was circulated by Russian operatives.

It initially said that Russian efforts to spread divisive views involved 470 accounts and pages with more than $100,000 being spent on 3,000 ads that reached 10 million users.

Independent researchers suggested that the figure was higher when Facebook initially said that the content had only reached 10 million users. Facebook is reportedly going to make this disclosure at one of its three Capitol Hill hearings this week. The scribe has obtained a draft of the company testimony which mentions the 126 million figure.

Facebook has since been looking into the matter and has conducted its own internal investigation. Facebook’s chief security officer Alex Stamos has also said that the company will do everything that it can to assist investigators.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: Web
Tags: Facebook