Facebook’s (NASDAQ: FB) CEO said on Thursday his company will share information with Congress about suspected Russian-linked election ads.
In early September, the social media outlet released results into the 2016 U.S. election. The investigation found approximately $100,000 in ad spending from June 2015 to May 2017 associated with roughly 3,000 ads believed to be from Russian profiles. The ads had been shared with a special counsel investigating the Russian influence in the election.
Mark Zuckerberg said he instructed his staff on Thursday morning to provide those ads to Congress as well. Facebook has reached out to congressional leaders to agree on a process of handing over the ads.
"We are committed to rising to the occasion. Our sophistication in handling these threats is growing and improving quickly. We will continue working with the government to understand the full extent of Russian interference," Zuckerberg said.
More than 3,000 Facebook ads linked to Russia have already been studied by special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating President Donald Trump’s ties to the country. Facebook initially didn’t want to share detailed information like this with Congress, but changed its mind on Thursday after a lengthy privacy and legal review.
Many Facebook ads are bought through a self-service system that doesn’t require interaction with a salesperson, making it harder to know who’s behind a purchase. Zuckerberg said that while it would be impossible to totally eliminate abuse of the system, Facebook can make it much more difficult for bad actors to be effective.
Facebook shares backtracked eight cents to $171.03 Friday morning.
