Sheryl Sandberg says the US should 'absolutely' publicly release the Facebook ads linked to Russian interference

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Sheryl Sandberg says the US should 'absolutely' publicly release the Facebook ads linked to Russian interference

Sheryl Sandberg Facebook

Ramin Talaie / Stringer / Getty Images

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Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg has said US Congress should "absolutely" publicly release ads from its platform that were purchased by Russia-linked accounts.

Sandberg made the comments to Axios in her first public interview since Facebook disclosed it had discovered ads bought by Russia-linked accounts.

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Asked by interviewer Mike Allen whether she supported the public release of the ads, Sandberg said: "Absolutely."

She said: "Things happened on our platform in this election that should not have happened, especially troubling foreign interference in a democratic election. We know we have a responsibility to do everything we can to prevent this kind of abuse."

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Sandberg met with the US government this week to discuss Facebook's role in the US election last year.

"In my meetings with the government yesterday, I talked about how we're fully cooperating with their investigation - Congress and the special counsel - we're giving our piece, but they can understand the whole picture. I reiterated that it's important they get the whole picture and explain that transparently to the American public. When they wanted to make a decision, we stand ready to help them."

Congress has asked Facebook to help scrub the ads of any personal information before releasing them.