Facebook ad believed to have been bought by Russians targeted Baltimore, Ferguson
At least one of the advertisements that Russian agents bought on Facebook specifically mentioned Black Lives Matter and was targeted to reach Ferguson and Baltimore, a CBS News source confirms.
The report, released Monday, says the ad was one of the 3,000 Russian fronts are believed to have purchased during the 2016 presidential campaign. CNN first reported on the ad.
"The apparent goal of the Russian buyers was to amplify political discord and fuel an atmosphere of incivility and chaos," according to the report.
Meanwhile, Mark Zuckerberg announced earlier this month that Facebook will disclose ads to Congress that were purchased by Russians on the social media platform in that country's effort to influence the 2016 election.
Zuckerberg made the brief announcement in a live video update on his Facebook page on Sept. 21.
"I care deeply about the democratic process and protecting its integrity," he said. "I don't want anyone to use our tools to undermine democracy -- that's not what we stand for."
Zuckerberg said that Facebook has found and shut down thousands of fake accounts that have attempted to influence elections around the world.
"I wish I could tell you that we are going to be able to stop all interference. But that just wouldn't be realistic," he said. "There will always be bad actors in the world and we can't prevent all government from interference."
Facebook is taking nine steps, he said, to protect election integrity moving forward.
CBS News' Andy Triay contributed to this report.
