Some of the political ads purchased by Russian agents on Facebook and Twitter were aimed at voters concerned about police relations with their communities, whereas other accounts that called for secure borders were aimed at immigration hard-liners, The New York Times writes.
The Times adds that one account, Army of Jesus, published an illustration of an arm-wrestling match between Christ and the devil. “Satan: If I win, Clinton wins!” the headline read.
The sampling of ads was presented during a second day of hearings with the top lawyers for Facebook, Twitter and Google, showing how Russia used their platforms to further its campaign of misinformation, The Times notes.
However, lawmakers of both parties expressed frustration with answers that fell short of what they had hoped and insisted that the companies should provide better explanations. Lawmakers also complained that the companies had taken months to acknowledge Russia’s interference on their sites. The companies also provided new numbers on the reach of Russia’s influence campaign, as Facebook said that an estimated 150 million users of its main site and its subsidiary, Instagram, were exposed to the posts, a larger figure than it provided even as recently as Monday.
Senator Marco Rubio emphasized that the real intent of Russian propaganda was to broadly spread misinformation and create chaos.
“These operations, while we’re talking about the 2016 presidential race, they’re not limited to 2016, and they were not limited to the presidential race, and they continue to this day. They are much more widespread than one election.” Rubio stressed.
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