Trump defends Russia against allegations of influencing US election with Facebook ads

US president Donald Trump has taken to Twitter to defend his administration against allegations of Russian interference in the election as the Kremlin distanced itself from the controversy.

Donald Trump

Donald Trump has tweeted about an investigation into Russia-linked Facebook ads that may have influenced the election. Source: UN General Assembly

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," Mr 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.
The Kremlin 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.

Share
Published 22 September 2017 9:15pm
Source: AFP, SBS, Reuters


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world