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Even though Facebook has caved in to pressure from US lawmakers to crack down on \u2018Russian interference,\u2019 promising more safeguards against it, its vice president for advertising says Russians never tried to sway the 2016 election.<\/p>\n
Thirteen Russian nationals and three entities have been indicted by a US federal grand jury for supposed meddling in the presidential election. The allegations include \u201csupporting the presidential campaign of then-candidate Donald J. Trump… and disparaging Hillary Clinton,\u201d including through Facebook. Now the Facebook vice president for advertising, Rob Goldman, says the accusers and their massive mainstream media supporters got it wrong.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of the coverage of Russian meddling involves their attempt to effect the outcome of the 2016 US election. I have seen all of the Russian ads and I can say very definitively that swaying the election was *NOT* the main goal<\/em>,\u201d Goldman tweeted.<\/p>\n Most of the coverage of Russian meddling involves their attempt to effect the outcome of the 2016 US election. I have seen all of the Russian ads and I can say very definitively that swaying the election was *NOT* the main goal.<\/p>\n \u2014 Rob Goldman (@robjective) February 17, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n He then reiterated a fact that has been out there for a while: \u201cThe majority of the Russian ad spend happened AFTER the election. We shared that fact, but very few outlets have covered it because it doesn\u2019t align with the main media narrative of Tump [sic] and the election<\/em>.\u201d What he didn\u2019t mention was that the advertising allegedly bought by Russians linked to the Internet Research Agency, which Western mainstream media calls a Kremlin-linked \u201ctroll farm,\u201d cost around $100,000 \u2013 a trifling amount compared to the tens of millions spent by the actual Trump and Clinton campaigns.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Until there are facts on election meddling, it\u2019s all just blather \u2013 Lavrov on Mueller indictment<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Faithful to the rest of the \u2018Russian meddling\u2019 narrative, Goldman went on to accuse Russia of a \u201cpropaganda and misinformation effort\u201d that aims \u201cto divide America by using our institutions, like free speech and social media, against us.<\/em>\u201d And, according to him, \u201cIt is working incredibly well<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n The Russians, Goldman believes, are the reason Americans are \u201cquite divided as a nation<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n The main goal of the Russian propaganda and misinformation effort is to divide America by using our institutions, like free speech and social media, against us. It has stoked fear and hatred amongst Americans. It is working incredibly well. We are quite divided as a nation.<\/p>\n \u2014 Rob Goldman (@robjective) February 17, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n Commenters rushed to prove Goldman right in that last bit, at least. Furiously bashing him for contradicting even one part of the FBI allegations, they accused him of covering<\/a> up his own failure to prevent the \u201cmeddling\u201d from his position, enabling<\/a>\u00a0an \u201cattack on America by a foreign power\u201d and \u201cbowing down<\/a>\u201d<\/em> to Trump.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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