![Russia once again used Facebook to try to influence American Elections. [Photo by Dweller Between Waters via YouTube]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2018/8/4/660x290/b_502x220x82/russia-once-again-used-facebook-to-try-to-influence-american-elections-photo-by-dweller-between-waters-via-youtube_2069181.jpg "Russia once again used Facebook to try to influence American Elections. [Photo by Dweller Between Waters via YouTube]")
Facebook announced that they recently discovered Facebook pages that were created by Russians to mislead Americans. They were discovered this past Tuesday. A top executive from Facebook called it an “arms race” in the report by the Washington Post.
Another reported Russian attempt to influence an American election. It is important to stop these threats although it would be impossible to stop all attempts. Facebook was more responsive this time than in the past election. The new security must be helping to minimize the effect of outside influences on American elections.
What exactly did Russia do?
Facebook found 32 pages that were created by Russian entities. This affected 290,000 people through ads, events, and regular Facebook posts. The misinformation campaign happened between March 2017 until July 2018. Facebook has 2.19 billion active monthly users. That means that .13 percent of Facebook users were affected by the Russians.
The posts and ads were traced back to the Internet Research Agency. An agency that is reportedly connected to the Kremlin. They were suspected of attempting to influence the election in 2016. Facebook said they were very good at covering their tracks.
It could not have occurred at a worse time for Facebook. A congressional panel is set to hear testimony from Facebook, Twitter, and Google on the possibility of political discord being spread via these platforms ahead of the midterm elections.
This hearing could have influenced Facebook’s decision to disclose this information.
Democrat’s response to the Russian attempts to influence the election
Adam Schiff, a top Democrat on House Judiciary committee, responded by claiming this act an assault on our democracy. According to the Washington Post, he stated that they are “dividing us along political and ideological lines, to the detriment of our cherished democratic system.” A strong statement about the assault on our democracy.
However, it did not take him long to contradict that statement. In an interview that same day, he decided to divide along those same political and ideological lines. He stated, “it also looks like the Russians may have been listening when he called for Claire Mccaskill’s ouster. The timing, again, is very suspicious,” reported by PoliticusUSA from his interview on MSNBC.
He is Donald Trump.
Adam Schiff is blaming Donald Trump for the hack against Claire McCaskill. Earlier he stated that the Russians were trying to divide the United States. Now Adam Schiff is trying to divide us along those same lines. In one breath he says that you cannot do this, then the next he is doing the same thing.
Adam Schiff has the right to his opinion and the right to express that opinion. The problem here is that he expresses two opposite opinions. His statement is arguably an attempt to drive a divide in the nation strictly along political lines. His views are speculation and an attempt to keep the Russia collusion story active and newsworthy.
Republican’s reaction to the Facebook discovery
They are not denying the threat to the democracy. Kirsten Nielsen, Department of Homeland Security chief, stated that “this threat is very real, and Americans need to know that,” reported by the Washington Post during her interview on Fox News channel. This is a threat to our democracy. Facebook is an open forum, and anyone can post and spread information as fact when there is no basis in the truth.
The White House other than Kirsten Nielsen was surprisingly quiet on this matter. No overnight Trump tweet storm or mention from other members of his cabinet. He usually does not miss opportunities like this especially since the Russia collusion investigation is still underway.
Facebook and the future of democracy
Facebook has gotten more people to speak their minds. It has been an influence on our democracy allowing more views to be publicly known. This also puts a great burden of responsibility on Facebook.
They do not have the right to censor speech, but they have the responsibility to monitor it. An unrefutable attempt by an agency outside the United States must be stopped. They have the right to remove that content.
The problem they face though is the abuse of that power. They do not have any right to remove speech that they do not believe. Their responsibility is to remove speech that is responsible for destroying our democracy from entities outside the United States.
In this example, Facebook did their job finding and removing the content. This content could have possibly been detrimental to our democracy.
America’s responsibility for democracy
The citizens of America also bear the responsibility of our democracy. Americans have a duty to research everything that is disseminated on Facebook. It is not gospel, and everything should be researched and verified by sources.
The democracy is by the people, for the people. Our responsibility is to remove political and ideological barriers and unite all ideas. All decisions made should have the goal of doing what is best for America.
Republican, democratic, or libertarian ideas should be considered. America was not started with parties or divisions. It was created to put the United into the states of America. So stand up America and vote in the upcoming election for the candidates that honor and respect the Constitution of the United States.
