[jd115]

Oh, but this isn't for the Russian people! It's for the so called "oligarchs" and their families who - surprise - don't actually live in Russia! They like America and western Europe much better.

And if you don't realise that Russian government / KGB is VERY MUCH behind Facebook and its initiatives, I'm afraid you have quite a bit of catching up to do.

[qeternity]

> And if you don't realise that Russian government / KGB is VERY MUCH behind Facebook and its initiatives, I'm afraid you have quite a bit of catching up to do.

Uh, I have to say, this is a new one for me. What's the theory here?

[vineyardmike]

In real news, Russia (the gov, and affiliates) has made lots of popular fb groups/accounts/pages to attract american attention and spread misinformation.

There have been reports on everything from "Christians for trump" groups to "abortions are a human right" groups. These accounts were used to spread disagreement and angst across the population. they even pit groups they owned against each other IRL [1]...

No evidence that russians were part of facebook but rather that they took advantage of the anonymity of the internet to pretend to be american and cause political divide (esp. during election times).

[1] https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-trolls-senate-intelli...

[qeternity]

Oh Russian troll farms pushing propaganda? I think that’s pretty much fact at this point.

A far cry from what it seemed was being insinuated, as if the Kremlin had something to do with Facebook’s success.

[panarky]

> "oligarchs" and their families who - surprise - don't actually live in Russia!

How would Whatsapp's service with a $300 maximum transaction limit, that's only available in the US, allow them to evade a hypothetical disconnection of Russian banks from SWIFT?