Facebook to show users which Russian propaganda pages they followed

Nov. 22 (UPI) -- Facebook announced Wednesday it will introduce a new tool to show users any pages they've followed that are linked to Russian propaganda.

The company shared a blog post detailing a new portal to show users which Facebook or Instagram profiles they liked or followed between January 2015 and August 2017 were linked to the pro-Kremlin group the Internet Research Agency.

"It is important that people understand how foreign actors tried to sow division and mistrust using Facebook before and after the 2016 US election," Facebook said. "That's why as we have discovered information, we have continually come forward to share it publicly and have provided it to congressional investigators. And it's also why we're building the tool we are announcing today."

Facebook, Google and Twitter testified before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary on Oct. 30 about the 80,000 posts created by 120 fake Russia-linked pages which were directly viewed by about 29 million Americans.

The new tool will be available by the end of the year in the Facebook Help Center, the company said.

Only users who liked or followed accounts linked to the Internet Research Agency will be able to make use of the tool, as it will not show paid advertisements or content that appeared on a user's feed because a friend liked or shared it.

Representative Adam Schiff, D-Calif., called Facebook's new tool a "a very positive step."

We look forward to additional steps by the companies to improve transparency with respect to Russian abuse of their platforms," Schiff said.