U.S. Operations Through Facebook

U.S. Operations Through Facebook

Many IRA operations used Facebook accounts created and operated by its specialists. A March 2015 IRA manual describes how the Facebook operations folded into the lai·ger aims of the IRA's U.S . operations:

The main goal of all types of our activities is destabilization ofpolitical life and provoking the social tensions with the US society. This goal can be reached by the means of: 1) Supporting the most radical pait of Facebook users;

2. Suppo1ting the political and social movements that are in opposition towards the rnling regime; 3) Populai·ization of negative opinions among collllllon users.

We can practice all types of activities mentioned above, both creating our own profiles and communities and being active in ah eady existing communities. 53

[Redacted: (b) (7)(A), (b) (7)(E)] CbX7)(E)-2

IRA Facebook groups active I •! . I I • !• • . .• !". .. . I mcluded purpo1ted conservative [Redacted: (b) (7)(A), (b) (7)(E)]

52 [Redacted: (b) (7)(A)], (E)[Redacted: (b) (3), (b) (7)(A), (b) (7)(E)] [Redacted: (b) (7)(A), (b) (7)(E)]

3/2/ 15 Email, [Redacted: (b) (3), (b) (7)(A), (b) (7)(E)] (attachment) (translated). , 3/2/ 15 Email, [Redacted: (b) (3), (b) (7)(A), (b) (7)(E)] (attachment) (translated).

¶groups (with names such as "Being Patriotic," "Stop All Immigrants," "Secured Borders," and "Tea Party News"), purpo1ted Black social justice groups ("Black Matters," "Blacktivist," and "Don't Shoot Us"), LGBTQ groups ("LGBT United"), and religious groups ("United Muslims of America").

¶Throughout 2016, IRA accounts published an increasing number of materials suppo1ting the Tnnnp Campaign and opposing the Clinton Campaign. For example, on May 31, 2016, the operational account "Matt Skiber" began to privately message dozens of pro-Tnnnp Facebook groups asking them to help plan a "pro-Tnnnp rally near Tnunp Tower."⁵⁵⁵⁵ 5/31/ 16 Facebook Message, ID 100009922908461 (Matt Skiber) to ID ~Wl@lflQI@l 5/31/ 16 Facebook Message, ID 100009922908461 Matt S er) to ID ~j~~j~C)-l

¶To reach larger U.S. audiences, the IRA purchased adve1tisements from Facebook that promoted the IRA groups on the newsfeeds of U.S . audience members. According to Facebook, the IRA purchased over 3,500 adve1t isements, and the expenditures totaled approximately $100,000.⁵⁶⁵⁶ Social Media Influence in the 2016 US. Election, Hearing Before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, 115th Cong. 13 (11/1/ 17) (testimony of Colin Stretch, General Counsel of Facebook).

¶During the U.S. presidential campaign, many IRA-purchased adve1tisements explicitly supported or opposed a presidential candidate or promoted U.S . rallies organized by the IRA (discussed below). As early as March 2016, the IRA purchased advertisements that overtly opposed the Clinton Campaign. For example, on March 18, 2016, the IRA purchased an adve1tisement depicting candidate Clinton and a caption that read in pali, "If one day God lets this liar enter the White House as a president - that day would be a real national tragedy."⁵⁷⁵⁷ 3/ 18/ 16 Facebook Adve1tisement ID 6045505152575. Similarly, on April 6, 2016, the IRA purchased adve1tisements for its account "Black Matters" calling for a "flashmob" of U.S . persons to "take a photo with #Hilla1yClintonForPrison2016 or #nohillaiy2016."⁵⁸⁵⁸ 4/6/ 16 Facebook Adve1tisement ID 6043740225319. IRA-purchased adve1tisements featuring Clinton were, with ve1y few exceptions, negative.⁵⁹⁵⁹ See SM-2230634, serial 213 (documenting politically-oriented adve1tisements from the larger set provided by Facebook).

¶IRA-purchased adve1tisements referencing candidate Tnnnp lai·gely suppo1ted his campaign. The first known IRA adve1tisement explicitly endorsing the Tnunp Campaign was purchased on April 19, 2016. The IRA bought an adve1tisement for its Instagram account "Tea Paity News" asking U.S. persons to help them "make a patriotic team ofyoung Tnnnp suppo1ters" by uploading photos with the hashtag "#KIDS4TRUMP."⁶⁰⁶⁰ 4/ 19/ 16 Facebook Adve1tisement ID 6045151094235. In subsequent months, the IRA purchased dozens of adve1tisements supporting the Tnunp Campaign, predominantly through the Facebook groups "Being Patriotic," "Stop All Invaders," and "Secured Borders."

¶Collectively, the IRA's social media accounts reached tens of millions of U.S. persons. Individual IRA social media accounts attrncted hundreds of thousands of followers. For example, at the time they were deactivated by Facebook in mid-2017, the IRA's "United Muslims of America" Facebook group had over 300,000 followers, the "Don't Shoot Us" Facebook group had over 250,000 followers, the "Being Patriotic" Facebook group had over 200,000 followers, and the "Seem ed Borders" Facebook group had over 130,000 followers.⁶¹⁶¹ See Facebook ID 1479936895656747 (United Muslims of America); Facebook ID 1157233400960126 (Don't Shoot); Facebook ID 1601685693432389 757183957716200 Secured Borders). UiilillllWIIUi lliiUII..,.~ [Redacted: (b) (7)(A), (b) (7)(E)] According to Facebook, in total the IRA-controlled accounts made over 80,000 posts before their deactivation in August 2017, and these posts reached at least 29 million U.S persons and "may have reached an estimated 126 million people."62