Facebook: Russia’s Hand in Disinformation Campaign That Reached Millions

Facebook's audit found thousands of ads run between June 2015 and May 2017 linked to roughly 470 inauthentic accounts and Pages likely operated from Russia; the operators spent about $100,000 (with another ~$50,000 in potentially related ads) to amplify divisive social and political messages—targeting topics such as race, immigration, LGBT issues, and gun rights—often without explicit reference to candidates, and Facebook has shared its findings with U.S. authorities while improving automated detection.