Facebook allowed an exiled Moldovan oligarch with ties to the Kremlin to run ads calling for protests and uprisings against the pro-Western government, even though he and his political party were on U.S. sanctions lists.
The ads featuring politician and convicted fraudster Ilan Shor were ultimately removed by Facebook but not before they were seen millions of times in Moldova, a small nation of about 2.6 million sandwiched between Romania and war-torn Ukraine.
Shor’s ads have helped fuel angry protests against the government and appear to be aimed at destabilizing Moldova and returning it to Russia’s sphere of influence, according to Dorin Frasineau, a foreign policy adviser to former Moldovan Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita, whose resignation led to the formation of the new government on Thursday.
“When Ilan Shor and the Shor Party were added to the U.S. sanctions list, we took action on their known accounts,” a company spokesperson said. “When we identified new associated accounts, we took action on those, as well. We adhere to U.S. sanctions laws and will continue working to detect and enforce against fake accounts and pages that violate our policies.”
Nine different paid posts from the Shor Party ran on Facebook after the U.S. imposed sanctions. Most were removed within a week after the sanctions announcement, though Shor bought another paid post in January, two months after he was sanctioned. All were clearly identifiable by Shor’s name. The ads weren’t money makers for Meta, generating only about $15,000 in revenue, a pittance for a company that earned $4.65 billion in the last quarter.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Facebook allowed oligarch with Kremlin ties to run ads against Moldova's pro-western governmentThe ads featuring politician and convicted fraudster Ilan Shor were ultimately removed by Facebook but not before they were seen millions of times in...
Read more »
Moldovan parliament approves new pro-Western governmentMoldova's parliament approved a pro-Western government led by new Prime Minister Dorin Recean on Thursday after he pledged to revive the economy and chart a course towards the European Union.
Read more »
Facebook ran ads for Moldova oligarch sanctioned by U.S.Facebook allowed an exiled Moldovan oligarch with ties to the Kremlin to run ads calling for protests and uprisings against the pro-Western government.
Read more »
Facebook allowed Kremlin-allied oligarch sanctioned by US to run ads on platformFacebook allowed Moldovan oligarch Ilan Shor to run anti-government ads on its platform despite the convicted fraudster being sanctioned by the United States.
Read more »
Inside the Kremlin’s disinformation war against UkraineA document obtained by Yahoo News from a Western intelligence agency reveals how Vladimir Putin’s security services rely on local journalists to launder narratives intended to undermine Ukraine’s unexpectedly robust performance on the battlefield.
Read more »
Russian official's 'suicide' latest mysterious death that raises questions for KremlinAnother high-ranking Russian official has mysteriously died after appearing to fall from her 16th-floor apartment in St. Petersburg.
Read more »