> In the days that followed Trump’s election, Zuckerberg used the stage at the Techonomy conference to deny Facebook could have had a hand in the election’s out

> In the days that followed Trump’s election, Zuckerberg used the stage at the Techonomy conference to deny Facebook could have had a hand in the election’s outcome. Only now, we learn that 10 days after Zuckerberg’s Techonomy appearance, Obama warned Zuckerberg privately that he believed misinformation and fake news had influenced the election Is this not all just a little insane? Of course misinformation and fake news influenced the election. Most political ads are a combination of both. The supposed Russian agents spent $100,000 on 3,000 ads. I don't know if you guys market on Facebook, but that's not a lot of reach (by comparison, $11,000,000 was spent by the campaigns). Furthermore, reports state the ads they bought were not fake, nor against the terms. Rather they were 'divisive' - covering stuff like gun control, BLM, immigration. Is it 'divisive' to hold an opinion on these things? Now, here's the kicker: rewind to 2011 and the US government was paying political NGOs in Russia to meddle in the Russian elections. They didn't call it meddling, of course. Instead they were 'promoting democracy'. So how much was spent? $100,000 worth of ads on VK.com? Nope, instead about $9,000,000 was funneled to NGOs. This from Reuters: > Golos, which means ‘voice’ in Russian, has been instrumental in reporting allegations of irregularities....Its money trail leads from Washington and Brussels to its headquarters in a residential neighborhood in central Moscow....In 2010 Golos received a two-year $2.8 million grant from USAID, which extends funding to non-governmental organizations in foreign countries working in areas from the health sector to political competition. and > Golos is one of 57 organizations that have been receiving funding from USAID. More than half of the USAID's 2012 budget of $50 million (38.6 million euros) went to groups promoting human rights and democracy. and > The United States has criticized Russia’s elections and its record on upholding the rule of law, but has dismissed accusations that its funding of human rights and pro-democracy organizations is intended to influence domestic politics. The moral panic and the sheer hypocrisy is astounding. Putin, in his wildest dreams, couldn't have imagined inflicting the sort of hysteria currently being whipped up by the media and some politicians. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-financing/analysis-putin-critics-hit-back-over-charge-of-western-funding-idUSTRE7BC0ZZ20111213 http://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-financing/analysis-...