Facebook called Russians' go-to discord strewer

U.S. indictment mentions it, its Instagram arm 41 times

SAN FRANCISCO -- In 2014, Russians working for a shadowy firm called the Internet Research Agency started gathering American followers in online groups focused on issues like religion and immigration. Around mid-2015, the Russians began buying digital ads to spread their messages. A year later, they tapped their followers to help organize political rallies across the United States.

Their digital instrument of choice for all of these actions? Facebook and its photo-sharing site Instagram.

The social network, more than any other technology tool, was singled out Friday by the Justice Department when prosecutors charged 13 Russians and three companies, accusing them of executing a scheme to subvert the 2016 election and support Donald Trump's presidential campaign.

In a 37-page indictment, officials detailed how the Russians repeatedly turned to Facebook and Instagram, often using stolen identities to pose as Americans, to sow discord among the electorate by creating Facebook groups, distributing divisive ads and posting inflammatory images.

While the indictment does not accuse Facebook of any wrongdoing, it provided the first comprehensive account from officials of how critical the company's platforms had been to the Russian campaign to disrupt the 2016 election. Facebook and Instagram were mentioned 41 times, while other technology that the Russians used was featured far less. Twitter was referred to nine times, YouTube once, and electronic payments company PayPal 11 times.

Facebook, with more than 2 billion members on the social network alone, has long struggled with what its sites show and the kind of illicit activity it may enable, from selling unlicensed guns to broadcasting live killings. The company's business depends on people being highly engaged with what is posted on its platform, which in turn helps make it a popular destination for advertisers.

When suggestions first arose after the 2016 election that Facebook may have influenced the outcome, Mark Zuckerberg, the company's chief executive, dismissed the concerns. But by September, Facebook had disclosed that the Internet Research Agency had bought divisive ads on hot-button issues through the company. It later said 150 million Americans had seen the Russian propaganda on the social network and Instagram.

Yet Facebook's multiple mentions in Friday's indictment renew questions of why the world's biggest social media company didn't catch the Russian activity earlier or do more to stop it. How effective the company's new efforts to reduce foreign manipulation have been is also unclear.

Rob Goldman, Facebook's vice president of advertising, waded into the discussion Friday with a series of tweets that argued that Russia's goal was to sow chaos among the electorate rather than to force a certain outcome in the election.

On Saturday, Trump cited those tweets as evidence that Russia's disinformation campaign was not aimed at handing him a victory.

Joel Kaplan, Facebook's vice president of global policy, said in a statement that the company was grateful that the government was taking action "against those who abused our service and exploited the openness of our democratic process."

He added that Facebook was working with the FBI before this year's midterm elections to ensure that a similar manipulation campaign would not take place. "We know we have more to do to prevent against future attacks," he said.

Facebook has previously questioned whether law enforcement agencies should be more involved in helping to stop the threat from nation state actors. Facebook said it worked closely with the special counsel's investigation.

YouTube did not respond to a request for comment, and Twitter declined to comment. PayPal said in a statement that it has worked closely with law enforcement and "is intensely focused on combating and preventing the illicit use of our services."

A Section on 02/18/2018

Upcoming Events