Facebook will hand over information about several thousand suspicious advertisements paid for by a Russian agency to Congressional committees investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on Thursday.

In January, the formal assessment of the U.S. intelligence community was that Russia sought to influence the election — in part by using “paid social media user or ‘trolls’” — and since then, Facebook has been forced to do some self-examination amid escalating questions. (Twitter, too.)

In examining itself, Facebook zeroed in on whether paid advertising on Facebook was part of Russia’s efforts.

Facebook now says yes, there are concerns, and it is sharing them with the congressional committees that are investigating the Russian interference. Here’s what you need to know.

What exactly did Facebook discover?

Two weeks ago, Facebook first announced it had discovered advertising spending from June 2015 to May 2017 that was connected to hundreds of inauthentic accounts and pages likely operated out of Russia. The ads came from a Russian company called the Internet Research Agency, which The New York Times refers to as a “shadowy” company linked to the Kremlin.

The majority of the ads didn’t specifically reference the election, voting or any of the candidates, Chief Security Officer Alex Stamos says. But they did include divisive social and political messages about topics like race issues and gun rights.

One of the biggest concerns, especially when it comes to the ongoing Russia probes, is that some of these ads were geographically targeted, which raises questions over how and why the advertisers picked the areas, which have not been publicly disclosed.

So what is Facebook doing about it?

Facebook has shown the ads to the special counsel investigation led by Robert Mueller, but will now also share them with Congressional committees investigating Russian interference.

Zuckerberg went live on Facebook Thursday to discuss his decision and discuss other new measures his company is taking when it comes to election integrity going forward.

“I don't want anyone to use our tools to undermine democracy,” Zuckerberg said. “That's not what we stand for.”

How exactly will Facebook change?

Facebook’s plan includes nine central elements. It says the company will:

1. Work with the U.S. government investigations

2. Continue investigating internally

3. Make political advertising more transparent by requiring advertisers to disclose who paid for ads and what else the advertiser is supporting

4. Strengthen its ad review process for political ads

5. Add more than 250 employees to focus on security and election integrity

6. Expand its work with election commissions around the world

7. Increase communication with tech and security companies working on similar threats

8. Create services — similar to its anti-bullying systems — to foster safe political discourse and block against political harassment

9. Work to insure integrity of the current German election

Read the transcript of the plan presented by Zuckerberg here.

Will we ever see the ad information?

Facebook says it will not be sharing the information publicly due to “federal law places strict limitations on the disclosure of account information.”

Congress can choose to share its own review of the ads with the public, however, and Zuckerberg says he encourages that.

“We support Congress in deciding how to best use this information to inform the public, and we expect the government to publish its findings when their investigation is complete,” Zuckerberg said of the decision.

What are people saying about Facebook’s decision?

Some saw Facebook’s move as an understandable step, while others question Zuckerberg’s motives.

https://twitter.com/Jason/status/910951391388065792

https://twitter.com/ScottShaneNYT/status/910990351321661440

https://twitter.com/BrandonBesserer/status/910963931090505729

https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/910979966371811329

https://twitter.com/PaulBlu/status/910954798664572928

https://twitter.com/LaurenWern/status/910981942916640768

Email: abby.hamblin@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @abbyhamblin