Facebook revealed last week that it had discovered an Operation likely based in Russia had spent $100,000 on Political Ads. The Disclosure raises questions about whether the Ad Buys were Illegal.
An Unidentified Facebook Official said the Ads, linked to Fake Accounts, were likely the work of a Russian company called the Internet Research Agency. The Company has a History of Pushing Pro-Kremlin Propaganda.
A Blog Post by Facebook’s Chief Security Officer said most of the Ads focused on Social and Political Messages and didn’t specifically Reference the Presidential Election, Voting, or a particular Candidate. Some of the Ads were Geographically Targeted. A few also mentioned Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
The Content of the Ads makes a difference in assessing their Legality. Federal Election Law Bars Foreign Nationals and Entities from Spending Money to Advocate or Defeat a Candidate. So Ads placed by a Russian Company Advocating for or against Clinton or Trump would be Illegal.
If the Ads focused on Issues, they would still be Illegal if they were taken out in Connection with a Campaign, according to University of California Irvine Law Professor Richard Hasen. That’s because Federal Law makes it Illegal for a Foreign Individual or Entity to Contribute to a U.S. Campaign, Candidate, or Party. “So if a campaign told the Russian entity where/who/when/how to place the ads, that would be illegal, even if the ads did not contain express advocacy,” Hasen writes. “That seems to be the next question for investigators: how would the Russians know where to target the ads?”
The more difficult Question, Hasen writes, is whether Ads by Foreign Entities are Illegal if they don’t Advocate for or against a Candidate, but are intended to Influence an Election. “If the Facebook ads just riled up people on guns but did not mention Trump for example, but were intended to help Trump get elected, can those be illegal?” Hasen wrote. “That’s the harder question.”
The gray area is due to Language in the Foreign Spending Ban, Hasen says. It Prevents a Foreign National, from making “an expenditure” that includes “any purchase … made by any person for the purpose of influencing any election for federal office. Money to pay bots or otherwise to spread fake news on Facebook with an intent to influence the U.S. election would appear to be an expenditure under this definition,” Hasen states. If such Spending is Banned by the Law, a second Question would be whether such a Ban is Unconstitutional. He also notes arguments against Interpreting the Statute this way, including dicta in a 2012 Opinion by a Three-Judge District Court.
If the Russian Company Violated U.S. Election Law, it’s unlikely Russia would Extradite anyone to the United States to Face Charges, according to the Campaign Legal Center Blog. Americans who helped place the Ads, even those who aren’t Associated with a Campaign, could be more at Risk.
The reason: Federal law Bars anyone from “knowingly providing substantial assistance” to Foreign Nationals that Violate Election Law.
So That seems to be the next Question for investigators: How would the Russians know where to Target the ads?, is the Collusion Question that the Investigation needs to answer. It is interesting that the Company the Trump Campaign used to provide the Analytics of the Campaign Polling was Cambridge Analytica.
The Trump Campaign hired Ted Cruz’s former Data-Analysis firm, Cambridge Analytica, a Data Company that uses Personality Profiling, and in doing so, it had Connected itself with the Ukrainian Oligarch Dmitry Firtash, a Business Associate of Trump’s former Campaign Manager, Paul Manafort. It would be hard to find a better Example of why the Ownership of the Companies that Collect Data on the American Electorate matters. What Cambridge does is what Marketers have done for some time now: Segment Potential Customers, in this case, Voters by their Buying Habits, Lifestyle, and Psychology. It most famously worked on the “Leave.” Campaign during Brexit Voting in the United Kingdom.
And then there is these facts:
- Trump former Strategist Steve Bannon, is on the Board of Cambridge Analytica.
- Cambridge Analytica boasts Billionaire Trump backer, Robert Mercer, as a Key Investor.
- Mercer’s daughter Rebekah, who ran a Pro-Trump Super Pac plowed $2M into Digital Ads and other Efforts backing Trump, and Alexander Nix, Chief Executive of Cambridge, played Lead Roles in the talks with the Trump Organization and Bannon.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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