Facebook VP says mainstream media distorted Russia's interference in US politics

Facebook Vice President of Advertising Rob Goldman dinged the mainstream media for distorting Russia’s interference in American politics, the Daily Caller reported.

Special counsel Robert Mueller announced the indictment of 13 Russian and three Russian entities on Friday for their meddling in American politics both during and after the 2016 election. Included is the state-backed "troll farm," the Internet Research Agency, which was indicted by a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C.

The indictment stated the Russians backed then-Republican nominee Donald Trump during the general election but promoted the anti-Trump resistance after Trump defeated Hillary Clinton.

What did he say?

Goldman wrote in a series of  tweets on Twitter:

“Very excited to see the Mueller indictment today. We shared Russian ads with Congress, Mueller and the American people to help the public understand how the Russians abused our system. Still, there are keys facts about the Russian actions that are still not well understood," he wrote.

“Most of the coverage of Russian meddling involves their attempt to effect the outcome of the 2016 US election. I have seen all of the Russian ads and I can say very definitively that swaying the election was *NOT* the main goal,” Goldman said.

“The majority of the Russian ad spend happened AFTER the election. We shared that fact, but very few outlets have covered it because it doesn’t align with the main media narrative of Tump and the election,” he added.

Trump retweeted some of Goldman's comments.

A nation divided?

Goldman said on Twitter on Friday that the main goal of Russian propaganda and misinformation is to “divide America, by using our institutions, like free speech and social media, against us. It has stoked fear and hatred amongst Americans. It is working incredibly well. We are quite divided as a nation.”

He gave the example of an anti-Islamic protest in Houston in which “Americans were literally puppeted into the streets by trolls who organized both the sides of protest.”