Washington, DC, September 24, 2020 – Today, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, released the following statement:
“Just two days ago, the FBI and DHS warned the American people about the ongoing threat of foreign-backed disinformation operations designed to undermine the upcoming election and erode Americans’ trust in our democratic institutions. And today we learned that Facebook has taken down three inauthentic networks operating from Russia, which it attributes to a combination of Russian intelligence and other actors linked to the Internet Research Agency.
“This latest disclosure demonstrates that the same malign groups exposed for foreign interference in 2016 have continued their deceptive cyber operations in 2020, and it reinforces the plain fact that our adversaries in Moscow remain committed to weaponizing disinformation narratives – including ones advanced by the President himself. It’s clear that Facebook’s investigative capabilities have significantly matured since 2016, which led to an early takedown that will preclude these pages from pivoting to directly target U.S. voters. But this is just the latest reminder that the Kremlin is undeterred – and perhaps emboldened – in launching new online influence campaigns.
“We must continue to publicly expose all elements of Russia’s foreign influence and propaganda machine so we can harden our defenses and improve our collective vigilance as we cast ballots and prepare to tally votes in November.”