Facebook says fake accounts linked to Russia bought ads during US election

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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Facebook on Wednesday said that it found evidence of ad spending related to fake accounts "likely operated out of Russia" during the US presidential election.

In response to mounting concern over its role in spreading fake news leading up to the election, Facebook chief security officer Alex Stamos said the company conducted an examination of ads purchased over the past two years.

"In reviewing the ads buys, we have found approximately $100,000 in ad spending from June of 2015 to May of 2017 - associated with roughly 3,000 ads - that was connected to about 470 inauthentic accounts and Pages in violation of our policies," Stamos wrote in a post published on Facebook's company blog. "Our analysis suggests these accounts and Pages were affiliated with one another and likely operated out of Russia."

The revelation marks the first official confirmation that Russia likely used Facebook to sway US election results.

This story is developing. Check back for updates.