Facebook Denies Hiding Russian Activity Ahead Of 2016 US Presidential Election - Statement

Daniyal Sohail Published November 15, 2018 | 11:11 PM

Facebook denied on Thursday the allegations made in a recent article that the company tried to hide information and mislead the public about its knowledge of Russian activity ahead of the 2016 US presidential election.

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th November, 2018) Facebook denied on Thursday the allegations made in a recent article that the company tried to hide information and mislead the public about its knowledge of Russian activity ahead of the 2016 US presidential election.

On Wednesday, the New York Times published an article that described Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Cheryl Sandberg as so bent on growing the business that they ignored warning signs related to alleged Russian activity on their platform and then sought to conceal them from public view.

"The story asserts that we knew about Russian activity as early as the spring of 2016, but were slow to investigate it at every turn. This is not true," Facebook said in a statement.

Facebook said the article contained a number of inaccuracies, but conceded that the company was slow to notice the alleged Russian activity.

"We've acknowledged publicly on many occasions - including before Congress - that we were too slow to spot Russian interference on Facebook, as well as other misuse," the statement said.

Facebook pointed out it has invested heavily in people and technology since the 2016 presidential election and the company is proud of the progress it has made in fighting misinformation.

Facebook also said that it ended the contract with Republican consulting firm Definers Public Affairs on Wednesday after the company's tactics in dealing with critics of the social network were scrutinized in the article.

Russia has repeatedly denied interfering in the US political system, saying the allegations were made up to excuse the election loss of a presidential candidate as well as to deflect public attention from actual instances of election fraud and corruption.