Senate Democrats were quick to place the blame on Russia after Facebook’s announcement that a foreign actor waged a coordinated campaign to influence American voters on its site.
The social media company identified a political campaign seeking to sow divisions in the American electorate around #abolishICE and the white supremacist Unite the Right rally. Though Facebook didn’t officially connect the campaign to Russia, it told lawmakers that the techniques used by the fake accounts were similar to those used by Kremlin-backed groups previously, according to the New York Times.
Senate Democrats praised Facebook for moving quickly to purge the platform of 32 pages and fake accounts, which reached more than 290,000 users, but criticized the company for not doing enough. And many directed their ire at Russia.
“I can’t imagine it’s anybody else,” said Sen. Claire McCaskill, referring to the Kremlin. “They’re the ones specializing in screwing up our democracy.”
Last week, the Daily Beast reported Russia’s GRU intelligence agency attempted to hack into McCaskill’s campaign but failed. The Missouri Democrat is one of the most vulnerable senators up for re-election in a state won by President Trump.
[Byron York: Why Trump doesn’t admit Russian election interference]
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said Facebook’s disclosure fulfills lawmakers’ “worst fears and predictions about the continuing Russian attack on our democracy.”
Asked about Facebook’s hesitancy to blame Russia for the misinformation campaign on its platform, Blumenthal said, “there’s no question it’s Russia.”
Unlike beefing up cybersecurity standards to guard against hacks, there’s little lawmakers can do individually to protect themselves against the spread of misinformation by Russian bots on Twitter and Facebook. Blumenthal said Democrats can counter by raising awareness and building public outrage.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., placed the onus on Facebook and the media.
“The Russians and other propaganda artists are going to get smarter and smarter to disguise what they’re doing,” Murphy said. “We have to ask the media to be really careful about what they cover and what they report because a lot of the momentum that you may see or feel around specific issues is created by foreign governments.”
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., said Facebook’s report was “disappointing but not surprising.”
“The fact that the president has been unwilling to stand up to Putin on Russia’s interference in the 2016 elections has made us a target for whoever around the world — other nation states, other criminal elements — who might want to target the U.S.,” Shaheen said.
The recent purge by Facebook and warnings from U.S. intelligence agencies about ongoing Russian attacks and misinformation campaigns targeting U.S. elections, raised questions about the integrity of the upcoming midterms.
Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., said he’s confident the integrity of voting registration and the ballot box will be maintained in 2018, but warned that voters could still be influenced by a foreign adversary.
“I am not confident and could not make that representation that Russia may not interfere in our election to try to persuade voters illegally — I think that is a possibility in Maryland and every other state in this country,” Cardin said.
