Facebook Inc disclosed on Wednesday that about 20 million Americans may have seen Russian-backed content on Instagram as lawmakers questioned tech companies for a second day about Russia's use of social media to influence the 2016 US election.
The Senate Intelligence Committee questioned lawyers for Facebook, Twitter Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google as part of a broader investigation into possible Russian interference in last year's election.
Facebook General Counsel Colin Stretch told the committee that 16 million Americans may have been exposed to Russian information on its picture-sharing service Instagram beginning in October 2016.
An additional four million may have seen such material on Instagram prior to October, though that data was less complete, Stretch said.
The Instagram figures were in addition to the 126 million Americans who may have seen Russian-backed political content on Facebook over a two-year period, a number the company disclosed earlier this week.
Some of the ads criticised candidates, while others sought to organise or promote simultaneous rallies for opposite sides of divisive issues. The sample posted on a House committee website pulled from the roughly 3,000 ads Facebook provided to congressional investigators last month.
Tech companies recently acknowledged that Russia-based content on US politics and social issues like gun rights, immigration, religion and race had spread on their platforms before and after the election.
Some of the ads sampled specifically dealt with the US election and were critical of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. One from an account called "Army of Jesus" said Clinton was supported by evil forces.
“Hillary is a Satan, and her crimes and lies had proved just how evil she is,” the post read. It added that Republican candidate Donald Trump was “an honest man” who “cares deeply for this country.”
Other ads appeared to be aimed at setting up clashes over hot-button issues. One ad from a group calling itself "Heart of Texas" promoted a rally in Houston on 21 May 2016 to "Stop Islamization" in the US state. Another ad from a separate Facebook page promoted a pro-Islam rally at the same time and venue.
The Russian government has denied any attempts to sway the 2016 election, in which US President Donald Trump defeated Clinton. But Democrats and Republicans both said the tech companies need to do more to police against foreign government abuse on their platforms.
Some Republicans, however, sought to distance the scrutiny of the companies from questions about the legitimacy of US President Donald Trump's election victory.
Richard Burr, the Republican chairman of the panel, said it was impossible to measure the impact or know the motivation of the Russian operation to spread political material on social media.
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