Kremlin says Russia did not use Facebook adverts to influence US election
US lawmakers have urged the Federal Election Commission to require transparency for social media advertising after Russian entities purchased political adverts during and after the 2016 election.
Facebook logo is seen at a start-up gathering at Paris Station F in Paris, France on January 17, 2017,
The Kremlin on Friday distanced itself from the controversy over Russia-linked Facebook ads which may have influenced last year's US election, saying Moscow had nothing to do with them.
"We don't know who places ads on Facebook and how," President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
"We have never done it and the Russian side has never had anything to do with it."
Facebook's chief executive Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday said the company would pass on to Congress details about Russia-linked ads that inflamed tensions around last year's presidential election.
Earlier this month, Facebook said some 470 Russia-linked fake accounts spent a total of about $100,000 between June 2015 and May 2017 on ads that touted fake or misleading views and played on divisive social and political themes like race, gay rights, and immigration.
The ads were linked to a Russian entity known as the Internet Research Agency, a secretive outlet in Saint Petersburg which has been christened the "troll farm" by Russian media because its employees blogged and left comments under fake online identities.
A congressional investigation will focus on how the messages in the ads were manipulated by Russian interests.
The investigation is the latest development in a string of probes into possible Russian meddling in the election and whether it could have swung the vote in US President Donald Trump's favour.
US intelligence agencies say Putin himself directed the intervention and Senate and Justice Department investigators have been chasing links between the Trump campaign and Moscow for evidence of collusion.
Moscow has denied all allegations of meddling in the vote.
Trump questions Facebook's decision
US President Donald Trump on Friday questioned Facebook Inc's decision to overhaul how it handles paid political advertisements amid investigations into alleged Russian interference in US elections.
"The Russia hoax continues, now it's ads on Facebook," Trump wrote on Twitter.
"What about the totally biased and dishonest Media coverage in favor of Crooked Hillary," referring to Hillary Clinton, his rival in the 2016 presidential campaign.
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