What I’m Reading: The Mueller Report – 22 in a series – “To reach larger U.S. audiences, the IRA purchased advertisements from Facebook…”

“Throughout 2016, IRA accounts published an increasing number of materials supporting the Trump Campaign and opposing the Clinton Campaign. For example, on May 31, 2016, the operational account “Matt Skiber” began to privately message dozens of pro-Trump Facebook groups asking them to help plan a “pro-Trump rally near Trump Tower.”55

To reach larger U.S. audiences, the IRA purchased advertisements from Facebook that promoted the IRA groups on the newsfeeds of U.S. audience members. According to Facebook, the IRA purchased over 3,500 advertisements, and the expenditures totaled approximately $100,000. 56”

Excerpt From The Mueller Report: Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election
Robert S. Mueller

“By the end of the 2016 U.S. election, the IRA had the ability to reach millions of U.S. persons through their social media accounts. Multiple IRA-controlled Facebook groups and Instagram accounts had “hundreds of thousands of U.S. participants.”

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