May 10, 2018

Castro Statement on Facebook Advertisements Release

Washington, D.C.—Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, today made the following statement:

“I welcome the release of Kremlin-linked Internet Research Agency Facebook advertisements that sought to influence American behavior as early as 2015. These advertisements prove what we already suspected: Russia exploited social media platforms to divide and polarize our nation’s political system. Through creating fake accounts, pages and communities to peddle content that would bait ordinary Americans to join rallies, protests and petitions, the Kremlin seized on American frustration and anger in our political system and successfully influenced our thinking and voting.

“In January 2017, the House Intelligence Committee made a bipartisan promise to the American people that we would provide them with the necessary means to understand how and why Russia used social media to sway the 2016 presidential elections. I am glad the Minority fulfilled this promise today and we will continue to work with Facebook and other technology companies to progress our investigation.”

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