“Black Lawmakers Hold a Particular Grievance With Facebook: Racial Exploitation”
“For Representative Barbara Lee, Democrat of California, the moment recalled the 1970s, when another government, this one in Washington, not Moscow, targeted black activists. She served as a community worker for the Black Panther Party as the F.B.I. used false information to go after its members.
“That actually got people killed and destroyed organizations,” Ms. Lee said. “Now look at Facebook allowing ads by the Russian government to create this kind of environment. That’s a problem. I don’t know if they’re even aware of the history and how dangerous allowing the promotion of division and racial animosity and racial hatred can be.”
And nearly a year after the election, black lawmakers say, little is being done to reverse the damage. Russia studied and exploited the “fault lines of racial tension,” said Representative Yvette D. Clarke, Democrat of New York, and multiple investigations into Russia’s actions and the Trump’s campaign possible involvement have thus far offered no safeguards to stop Moscow’s efforts…
Shortly after the meeting with Ms. Sandberg, Representative Cedric L. Richmond, Democrat of Louisiana and the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said he was concerned that the F.B.I. may have bought into Russia’s exploitation of African-Americans with its new class of threats called “Black Identity Extremists.” Mr. Richmond said that he feared that the F.B.I. may now go after black people who protest unfair policing practices and discriminatory policies based on false information peddled on social media.”
