Skip to main content

The context you need, when you need it

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our own.

We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today?

Join now

Congress released more Facebook and Instagram ads that Russia bought to try and influence the 2016 election

Kremlin trolls targeted users based on location, political party, religion and more.

Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee released copies of 14 Facebook ads purchased by Russian trolls around the 2016 U.S. presidential election, including sponsored posts on Instagram trying to link “Killary Clinton” to the death of U.S. troops.

Some of the political ads targeted Facebook or Instagram users based on their interests in Christianity, Rush Limbaugh, the war in Afghanistan and more, according to details shared by the panel. In some cases, they garnered thousands of impressions — views, but not necessarily “Likes” or clicks — on Facebook platforms.

In total, Facebook has said that ads run by Russian agents over a two-year period around Election Day in 2016 reached 10 million U.S. users. Organic content there may have reached as many as 126 million U.S. users, too. And some Russian-driven content reached an additional 20 million users on Instagram, the company revealed Wednesday during a hearing before congressional investigators.

“Russia exploited real vulnerabilities that exist across online platforms and we must identify, expose and defend ourselves against similar covert influence operations in the future,” said Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee before the ads were unveiled.

“The companies here today must play a central role as we seek to better protect legitimate political expression, while preventing cyberspace from being misused by our adversaries,” he said.

One of the ads comes from an account called “_american.made,” and its sponsored Instagram ad targeted a favorable message about guns to users — perhaps even those as young as age 13 — whose interests included the Tea Party or Trump, the committee said. It cost more than 17,000 rubles (which is about $291), garnered 850 clicks and had 108,000 impressions.

House Intelligence Committee

Another ad from an account called “american.veterans” in August of 2016 linked Clinton with the deaths of U.S. service members — and apparently sought to sell T-shirts.

House Intelligence Committee

This event by “Black Matters” opposed Donald Trump: It ran after Election Day, and it reached few viewers, but it sought to get mobile and desktop Facebook users who follow the group to show up at a protest in New York City.

House Intelligence Committee

And yet other Russian-tied ads touted events, part of a broader strategy by the IRA to foster protests — sometimes by stoking supporters of both sides of an issue. The page “Heart of Texas,” for example, targeted users in that state in the bid to promote a pro-secession rally in November 2016. It had about 16,000 impressions.

House Intelligence Committee

Still another ad from “Heart of Texas” blamed Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama for an influx of criminals crossing the border — and targeted prospective followers based on their interest in “patriotism.”

House Intelligence Committee

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

More in Technology

Podcasts
Are humanoid robots all hype?Are humanoid robots all hype?
Podcast
Podcasts

AI is making them better — but they’re not going to be doing your chores anytime soon.

By Avishay Artsy and Sean Rameswaram
Future Perfect
The old tech that could help stop the next airborne pandemicThe old tech that could help stop the next airborne pandemic
Future Perfect

Glycol vapors, explained.

By Shayna Korol
Future Perfect
Elon Musk could lose his case against OpenAI — and still get what he wantsElon Musk could lose his case against OpenAI — and still get what he wants
Future Perfect

It’s not about who wins. It’s about the dirty laundry you air along the way.

By Sara Herschander
Life
Why banning kids from AI isn’t the answerWhy banning kids from AI isn’t the answer
Life

What kids really need in the age of artificial intelligence.

By Anna North
Culture
Anthropic owes authors $1.5B for pirating work — but the claims process is a Kafkaesque messAnthropic owes authors $1.5B for pirating work — but the claims process is a Kafkaesque mess
Culture

“Your AI monster ate all our work. Now you’re trying to pay us off with this piece of garbage that doesn’t work.”

By Constance Grady
Future Perfect
Some deaf children are hearing again because of a new gene therapySome deaf children are hearing again because of a new gene therapy
Future Perfect

A medical field that almost died is quietly fixing one disease at a time.

By Bryan Walsh