(chanting)
>> Pro-Russia demonstrators
against Ukraine's new interim
government.
>> "Russia, Russia," they chant.
>> Russian propaganda was
massive on social media.
It was massive.
>> There was so many stories
that start emerging on the
Facebook.
>> "Cruel, cruel Ukrainian
nationalists killing people or
torturing them because they
speak Russian."
>> They scared people.
"You see, they're gonna attack,
they're gonna burn your
villages.
You should worry."
(speaking Russian)
>> And then the fake staged
news.
(speaking Russian)
>> "Crucified child by Ukrainian
soldiers," which is totally
nonsense.
(speaking Russian)
>> It got proven that those
people were actually hired
actors.
>> Complete nonsense.
>> But it spreads on Facebook.
>> So Facebook was weaponized.
>> NARRATOR: Just as in the Arab
Spring, Facebook was
being used to
inflame divisions.
But now it was a
government-linked
campaign, using Facebook's
tools built to help advertisers
boost their content.
>> By that time in Facebook, you
could pay money to promote these
stories.
So your stories emerge on the
top lines.
And suddenly you start to
believe in this, and you
immediately get immediate
response.
You can test all kind of
nonsenses and understand to
which nonsense people do not
believe...
(man speaking Ukrainian)
And to which nonsenses people
start believing.
(chanting in Russian)
Which will influence the
behavior of person receptive to
propaganda, and then provoking
that person on certain action.
♪ ♪
>> They decided to undermine
Ukraine from the inside...
(gunfire echoing, shouting)
...rather than from outside.
>> I mean, basically, think
about this-- Russia hacked us.
>> NARRATOR: Dmytro Shymkiv, a
top adviser to Ukraine's
president, met with Facebook
representatives and says he
asked them to intervene.
>> The response that Facebook
gave us is, "Sorry, we are open
platform, anybody can do
anything without... within our
policy, which is written on the
website."
And when I said, "But this is
fake accounts."
(laughs): "You could verify
that."
"Well, we'll think about this
but, you know, we, we have a
freedom of speech and we are
very pro-democracy platform.
Everybody can say anything."
>> JACOBY: In the meeting, do
you think you made it explicitly
clear that Russia was using
Facebook to meddle in Ukraine
politics?
>> I was explicitly saying that
there are trolls factory, that
there are posts and news that
are fake, that are lying, and
they are promoted on your
platform by, very often, fake
accounts.
Have a look.
At least sending somebody to
investigate.
>> JACOBY: And no one...
sorry.
>> No.
>> JACOBY: No one was sent?
>> No, no.
For them, at that time, it was
not an issue.
>> NARRATOR: Facebook told
Frontline that Shymkiv didn't
raise the issue of
misinformation in their meeting,
and that their conversations
had nothing to do with what
would happen
the United States two years
