Google: No evidence of Russian propaganda ads on our platforms

Google said Thursday that it does not have evidence that its advertising platforms were used by a Russian propaganda campaign during the 2016 presidential campaign.

“We’re always monitoring for abuse or violations of our policies and we’ve seen no evidence this type of ad campaign was run on our platforms,” Google said in a statement reported by Reuters.

Facebook revealed Wednesday that a shadowy Russian company linked to the Kremlin purchased more than $100,000 worth of ads on the social media site. 

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In that case, some 470 inauthentic accounts spent that money on roughly 3,000 advertisements on hot-button issues, like gun control and immigration, Facebook’s Chief Security Officer Alex Stamos said in a blog post Wednesday.

The social media giant disclosed the advertisements to congressional investigators and turned over data on the ads to special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russia’s efforts to influence the outcome of the 2016 election.

Twitter, another social media giant, is also expected to brief lawmakers on the Senate Intelligence Committee about whether a Russian propaganda campaign purchased ad space on the website during the campaign. 

The U.S. intelligence community concluded in a report made public in January that Russia carried out a massive hacking and influence campaign during the 2016 presidential race in order to swing the election in President Trump’s favor.

Trump and his associates have denied any coordination with Russian officials during the election cycle.