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Report: Russians target Ferguson with fake Facebook ad

Russians targeted Ferguson with fake Facebook ads trying to inflame tensions over BLM, according to CNN.

Russians targeted Ferguson with fake Facebook ads, trying to inflame tensions over "black lives matter." It's the latest development to come out of the U.S. Senate's ongoing investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

CNN broke the story Wednesday, citing sources close to the investigation have seen at least one Facebook ad from Russia that was aimed specifically at Baltimore and Ferguson - focused on "black lives matter."

CNN Senior Reporter Dylan Byers said the aim wasn't necessarily to get people to vote for Trump or Clinton, but to turn people against each other by using the "black lives matter" movement in Facebook ads.

Byers reports this is the first known example of Russian operatives targeting a specific city through Facebook.

"The Russian ad buyers clearly were sophisticated enough to understand political and cultural flashpoints in the United States," said Byers in a telephone interview with Five On Your Side. "The idea that you would have a foreign national trying to stoke fear...I think is really unnerving not just to the American public but to Congress," said Byers.

"They're offended," he said of Senators who want Facebook executives to appear in a public hearing, along with those of Twitter and Google, as part of their ongoing investigation.

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