--- title: "Russia Accuses Facebook of Meddling In Its Election. Seriously." description: "Russian state-owned communications watchdog Roskomnadzor claims that U.S. tech giants Google, Facebook, and YouTube interfered with local elections on Sunday by allowing political ads, Reuters reports. Russian election laws forbid the dissemination of political ads during an election. “Such actions can be seen as interference in Russia’s sovereign affairs and hindering the conduct of democratic […]" date: "2019-09-09" modified: "2019-09-09" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/russia-accusing-facebook-google-election" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "elections" - "facebook" - "Google" - "Russia" - "the digest" --- # Russia Accuses Facebook of Meddling In Its Election. Seriously. ![A state-owned communications watchdog in Russia claims that Google, Facebook, and YouTube interfered with a local election by allowing political ads.]() *\Image: Victor Tangermann\* ## Reverse! Reverse! Russian state-owned communications watchdog Roskomnadzor claims that U.S. tech giants Google, Facebook, and YouTube interfered with local elections this week by allowing political ads, [*Reuters* reports](). "Such actions can be seen as interference in Russia’s sovereign affairs and hindering the conduct of democratic elections in the Russian Federation," reads [a statement]() on Roskomnadzor's website. "Such actions by foreign companies are unacceptable." Needless to say, this is an ironic situation — since politicians in the U.S. have repeatedly [placed blame]() on Russian actors for interfering with the [2016 presidential elections](). ## Growing Opposition Aleksandr Malkevich, a high-ranking member of Russia's Civic Chamber, [told Russian news network *RT* ]()that Google displayed ads for a "Smart Voting" system, previously promoted by opposition figure Aleksey Navalny. The news comes after [20 candidates]() — all endorsed by Navalny — nabbed seats in the 45-member Duma assembly in Moscow during Sunday's elections. Despite a big loss, United Russia, the party currently in power, is holding on to its majority. ## Putin on the Ritz The news also comes after the dismissal and exclusion of [a dozen]() Moscow legislature candidates and Putin critics — many of them Navalny supporters — by the Kremlin [triggered a massive protest]() in August. *RT* also reports that Facebook allegedly took down two posts that Moscow's Election Commission was trying to post. Google, Facebook and YouTube didn't respond to questions from *Reuters*. **READ MORE:** [Russia says Facebook, Google distributed political ads on election day]() \[*Reuters*\] **More on election interference:** *[The 2020 Election Is Not Safe From Hackers]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()