Russian operatives who bought 3,000 Facebook ads between 2015 and 2017 appear to have used the social network to widen existing divides on issues of race, religion, economics, and politics.
For instance, according to The Washington Post, some users saw ads featuring anti-black and anti-Muslim messaging while others saw ads at the same time promoting African American-rights groups.
Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner (D-VA) says, “Their aim was to sow chaos. In many cases, it was more about voter suppression rather than increasing turnout.”
Experts explain that campaigns of "identifying and exploiting existing social and cultural divisions are common Russian disinformation tactics dating back to the Cold War."