Russian Internet Research Agency begins Facebook ad campaign to influence U.S. politics

confirmed Importance 9/10 ~1 min read 3 sources 3 actors

Legislative Capture Intelligence Penetration Electoral Manipulation

The St. Petersburg-based Internet Research Agency began purchasing Facebook ads and running coordinated influence operations. Senate Intelligence Committee reports and platform disclosures document spending (about $100,000 on ~3,000 ads) and reach in the tens of millions between 2015 and 2017.

Sources & Citations

[1] Senate Intel—Russia's Use of Social Media (Vol. 2) · Oct 8, 2019 Tier 1

[2] Hard Questions—Russian Ads Delivered to Congress · Oct 2, 2017 Tier 2

[3] Facebook says likely Russian-based operation funded U.S. ads · Sep 6, 2017 Tier 1

Tiers Tier 1 court records & gov docs · Tier 2 established outlets · Tier 3 regional & specialty press · Tier 4 opinion or single-source. Methodology →

Cite this entry

The Cascade Ledger. “Russian Internet Research Agency begins Facebook ad campaign to influence U.S. politics.” The Capture Cascade Timeline, June 1, 2015. https://capturecascade.org/event/2015-06-01--russian-ira-begins-facebook-ad-campaign/