Here are a bunch of the political ads Russian trolls ran on Facebook
- Members of Congress released some of the Facebook ads purchased by fake Russian accounts.
- All of the released ads were paid for in rubles.
- Most of the ads touched on politically charged issues like LGBT rights and immigration. Some voiced support for Donald Trump.
On Wednesday, members of the House Intelligence Committee released a trove of Russian-sponsored Facebook ads intended to foment political divisiveness in the US.
The ads, which Facebook said collectively were seen by an estimated 10 million Americans, cover a range of hot-button political issues, including the Black Lives Matter movement, LGBT rights, immigration, and gun rights. Some were designed to stir support for then-candidate Donald Trump ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
All of the ads shown during the committee's Wednesday hearing on Russia's meddling through social media were paid for in rubles, with some running as early as 2015.
Facebook has said that the bulk of the ads were likely affiliated with the known Russian troll farm called the Internet Research Agency.
We've rounded up 18 of the ads that were posted on the House Intel Committee's website. These ads don't include the unpaid posts that Russian trolls created to spread similar messages Facebook estimates reached 146 million Americans, and included posts like the illustration of Hillary Clinton wearing devil horns.
But the ads reveal a clear intention to exploit some of the country's most divisive issues. Here's what the ads looked like: