Facebook’s Vice President of Ads, Rob Goldman, tweeted last night his excitement in the charges brought forth by the FBI against Russian actors who attempted to influence the 2016 presidential election. Goldman also trashed the media's coverage of Russian interference, asserting that many are intentionally ignoring key facts in order to fit the “main media narrative of Trump and the election.”
Yesterday, Special counsel Robert Mueller indicted 13 Russian nationals for “interfering in the U.S. election process. In a detailed 37-page report, the FBI explains how the defendants used false identities to stage political protests, rallies, and recruit Americans in their conspiracy,” as noted by Cortney. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein emphasized that no American knew they were “communicating with Russians.”
After those statements, Goldman took to Twitter to explain Facebook’s role in the ongoing investigation. He pointed out a glaring fact that most anti-Trumpers refuse to accept - a majority of the Russian interference via Facebook occurred after the election and swaying the outcome of the presidential race was not the main goal.
Very excited to see the Mueller indictment today. We shared Russian ads with Congress, Mueller and the American people to help the public understand how the Russians abused our system. Still, there are keys facts about the Russian actions that are still not well understood.
— Rob Goldman (@robjective) February 17, 2018
Most of the coverage of Russian meddling involves their attempt to effect the outcome of the 2016 US election. I have seen all of the Russian ads and I can say very definitively that swaying the election was *NOT* the main goal.
— Rob Goldman (@robjective) February 17, 2018
The majority of the Russian ad spend happened AFTER the election. We shared that fact, but very few outlets have covered it because it doesn’t align with the main media narrative of Tump and the election. https://t.co/2dL8Kh0hof
— Rob Goldman (@robjective) February 17, 2018
President Donald J. Trump re-tweeted Goldman, slamming “the fake news media” for ignoring Goldman’s claims.
The Fake News Media never fails. Hard to ignore this fact from the Vice President of Facebook Ads, Rob Goldman! https://t.co/XGC7ynZwYJ
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 17, 2018
Still, Goldman warns that Russia's ultimate objective is to divide the nation through misinformation.
The main goal of the Russian propaganda and misinformation effort is to divide America by using our institutions, like free speech and social media, against us. It has stoked fear and hatred amongst Americans. It is working incredibly well. We are quite divided as a nation.
— Rob Goldman (@robjective) February 17, 2018
The single best demonstration of Russia's true motives is the Houston anti-islamic protest. Americans were literally puppeted into the streets by trolls who organized both the sides of protest. https://t.co/9w1EAl28CH
— Rob Goldman (@robjective) February 17, 2018
The Russian campaign is ongoing. Just last week saw news that Russian spies attempted to sell a fake video of Trump with a hooker to the NSA. US officials cut off the deal because they were wary of being entangled in a Russian plot to create discord. https://t.co/jO9GwWy2qH
— Rob Goldman (@robjective) February 17, 2018
There are easy ways to fight this. Disinformation is ineffective against a well educated citizenry. Finland, Sweden and Holland have all taught digital literacy and critical thinking about misinformation to great effect. https://t.co/V0JNvW083W
— Rob Goldman (@robjective) February 17, 2018
We are also taking aggressive steps to prevent this sort of meddling in the future by requiring verification of political advertisers and by making all ads on the platform visible to anyone who cares to examine them. https://t.co/EPrubt7mqm
— Rob Goldman (@robjective) February 17, 2018