In an effort to muffle criticism of how it handled Russian interference and disinformation, Facebook reportedly carried out a campaign to discredit dissenters which included targeted attacks on Jewish billionaire philanthropist George Soros.

A New York Times investigation, published Wednesday, delves into the social media giant’s handling of the controversy and chaos following the discovery of targeted disinformation campaigns. It reported that, facing increasing backlash in Washington, Facebook hired Definers Public Affairs, a Republican opposition research firm, to discredit anti-Facebook protesters by linking them to figures like Soros, a longtime critic of the social network.

The Times reported that Facebook initially was working with Definers to monitor press coverage of the company, but then expanded its involvement with them in October 2017. The public relations firm then reportedly began promoting negative coverage of Facebook’s rivals, including Apple and Google.

29 PHOTOS Billionaire George Soros See Gallery Billionaire George Soros George Soros, billionaire and founder of Soros Fund Management LLC, speaks at an event on day three of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday, Jan. 25, 2018. World leaders, influential executives, bankers and policy makers attend the 48th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos from Jan. 23 - 26. Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg via Getty Images George Soros, billionaire and founder of Soros Fund Management LLC, speaks to an attendee on day three of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday, Jan. 25, 2018. World leaders, influential executives, bankers and policy makers attend the 48th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos from Jan. 23 - 26. Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg via Getty Images George Soros, billionaire and founder of Soros Fund Management LLC, attends an event on day three of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday, Jan. 25, 2018. World leaders, influential executives, bankers and policy makers attend the 48th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos from Jan. 23 - 26. Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg via Getty Images BERLIN, GERMANY - JUNE 08: Financier and philanthropist George Soros (R) and German State Secretary for Europe at the German Foreign Ministry Michael Roth (L) attend the official opening of the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture (ERIAC) at the German Foreign Ministry on June 8, 2017 in Berlin, Germany. The Institute, which is an initiative of the European Council, the Open Society Fund and the Alliance for the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture, will have an administrative office in Berlin, gallery space in Venice and a liaison office in Brussels. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images) BERLIN, GERMANY - JUNE 08: Financier and philanthropist George Soros (L) and his wife Tamiko Bolton (C) attend the official opening of the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture (ERIAC) at the German Foreign Ministry on June 8, 2017 in Berlin, Germany. The Institute, which is an initiative of the European Council, the Open Society Fund and the Alliance for the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture, will have an administrative office in Berlin, gallery space in Venice and a liaison office in Brussels. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images) EU commission President Jean-Claude Juncker (L) welcomes George Soros, Founder and Chairman of the Open Society Foundations prior to a meeting in Brussels, on April 27, 2017. Meeting will mainly focus on situation in Hungary, including legislative measures that could force the closure of the Central European University in Budapest. / AFP PHOTO / POOL / OLIVIER HOSLET (Photo credit should read OLIVIER HOSLET/AFP/Getty Images) Georges Soros, Chairman of Soros Fund Management, attends the annual conference of the Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET) at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) headquarters in Paris April 9, 2015. REUTERS/Charles Platiau/File Photo Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner talks to George Soros, chairman of Soros Fund Management LLC, during a meeting in New York September 22, 2014. Kirchner met on Monday with Argentina bondholder and billionaire financier Soros, who is suing a U.S. bank caught in the middle of the country's latest default. A spokesman for Soros said they had discussed topics including the energy sector. Picture taken September 22, 2014. REUTERS/Argentine Presidency/Handout via Reuters (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS) ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS IMAGE. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS PICTURE IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS George Soros, Chairman of Soros Fund Management LLC (L) and U.S. Senator John McCain talk during a break between sessions at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos January 23, 2014. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse (SWITZERLAND - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS) Business magnate George Soros arrives to speak at the Open Russia Club in London, Britain June 20, 2016. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor Billionaire investor George Soros (L) and former South African President F.W. de Klerk attend the Fortune Forum Summit in London December 4, 2012. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor (BRITAIN - Tags: BUSINESS POLITICS) Billionaire investor George Soros and girlfriend Tamiko Bolton are pictured at Soros' residence in Southampton, New York August 11, 2012. Soros had a lot to celebrate on Saturday evening: his 82nd birthday and the engagement to his much younger girlfriend Tamiko Bolton. Soros and Bolton, who met in spring in 2008, formally announced their engagement at a party at Soro's summer home in Southampton, N.Y. attended by a small group of friends and relatives, according to a person familiar with the trader. REUTERS/Myrna Suarez/Handout (UNITED STATES - Tags: PROFILE SOCIETY BUSINESS PORTRAIT) FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS ATTENTION EDITORS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN BINNED African National Congress President Nelson Mandela meets with American billionaire George Soros at ANC headquarters in Johannesburg, South Africa April 5, 1993 . Reuters/Juda Ngwenya (SOUTH AFRICA) BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE Soros Fund Management Chairman George Soros speaks during a news conference at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, January 25, 2012. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann (SWITZERLAND - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS HEADSHOT) Financier George Soros waits to begin an interview at the UN Climate Change Conference 2009 in Copenhagen December 10, 2009. REUTERS/Bob Strong (DENMARK ENVIRONMENT BUSINESS) George Soros, Chairman of Soros Fund Management, listens to economists speaking at the Emerging from the Financial Crisis annual conference, held at Columbia University, in New York, February 20, 2009. REUTERS/Chip East (UNITED STATES) Hedge fund manager George Soros, chairman of Soros Fund Management LLC, listens to testimony before a U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on the regulation of hedge funds, on Capitol Hill in Washington November 13, 2008. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (UNITED STATES) Billionaire financier and philanthropist George Soros meets the organizers of a training centre for single mothers sponsored by his Open Society Institute in Dakar, February 5, 2008. Hungry for oil and minerals, India and China have become Africa's new colonialists, exploiting the world's poorest continent in the same way as its old European masters, Soros said on Tuesday. REUTERS/Daniel Flynn (SENEGAL) Carla Del Ponte (R), chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal of the former Yugoslavia, receives the CEU Open Society Prize from Hungarian-born billionaire George Soros at the Central European University in Budapest June 14, 2007. REUTERS/Karoly Arvai (HUNGARY) Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad (L) talks as George Soros listens during a news conference at the end of their meeting in Kuala Lumpur December 15, 2006. REUTERS/Bazuki Muhammad (MALAYSIA) US financier George Soros listens to a joint news conference with Austrian Chancellor Schuessel in Vienna. U.S. billionaire financier George Soros (R) listens during a joint news conference with Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel (L) in Vienna June 20, 2005. The Austrian government presented the 'Open Medical Institute', a post-graduate programme for qualified doctors from middle and eastern Europe, sponsored by Soros' Open Society Institute on Monday. REUTERS/Heinz-Peter Bader Investor/philanthropist George Soros gives an address on "The Crisis of Global Capitalism: Open Society Endangered" October 5 at the Omni Shoram Hotel in Washington. Soros said he expected top industrial nations to agree on coordinated rate cuts, but cautioned that this alone was not enough to stem the world financial crisis. United States First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, U.S. Ambassador to Haiti Tim Carney (L), international financier and philanthropist George Soros (C) and Well-Being Hospital of Pignon, Haiti Director Dr. Guy Theodore (R) talk to a group of women entrepreneurs in Pignon, November 22. The women have received funding help from a microcredit program affiliated with hospital, which has received major funding from Soros' charitable foundation. JRB/HB/JDP HUngarian-born multi-millionaire George Soros (R) shakes hands with Croatian President Stjepan Mesic before their meeting in Zagreb March 7. Soros came to Zagreb on an official two-day visit to Croatia. HP George Soros, Chairman of the Soros Fund Management, attends a press conference at the World Economic Forum?s annual meeting in Davos January 31. Soros is amongst around 3000 political and financial leaders and personalities to take part in conference which lasts until February 3. WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM U.S. financier George Soros gestures during a news conference, October 20. Soros said he would spend up to 500 million dollars in the next three years in Russia trying to improve health care, expand educational opportunities and train military workers for civilian jobs. RUSSIA Investment banker George Soros working on phone in office. (Photo by Ted Thai/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images) FRANCE - MAY 12: Close -up George Soros in Paris, France on May 12, 1993. (Photo by Daniel SIMON/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images) FRANCE - MAY 12: Close -up George Soros in Paris, France on May 12, 1993. (Photo by Daniel SIMON/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images) Up Next See Gallery Discover More Like This HIDE CAPTION SHOW CAPTION of SEE ALL BACK TO SLIDE

Definers also reportedly targeted Soros after anti-Facebook activists promoted what appeared to be anti-Semitic imagery during a congressional hearing. They sent a research document to reporters over the summer alleging that Soros was behind an anti-Facebook movement; his Open Society Foundations, for example, supported a group that his son founded as well as Color of Change, a group that belongs to an anti-Facebook advocacy group called Freedom From Facebook.

Facebook confirmed that Definers did urge some members of the media to examine the group’s funding, though fiercely rebutted any connection to anti-Semitism.

“The intention was to demonstrate that it was not simply a spontaneous grassroots campaign, as it claimed, but supported by a well-known critic of our company,” according to a statement. “To suggest that this was an anti-Semitic attack is reprehensible and untrue.”

Tim Miller, a Definers official, expressed his disgust over his company’s actions being viewed as anti-Semitic, stating that the information sent to journalists was all based on public records.

“Im disgusted by the rise of anti-semitism including people who have falsely targeted Soros,” he tweeted Wednesday night. “It’s deeply deeply personal. I’ve continuously fought the alt-right & others who spread racist lies & hate & will keep doing so.”

A Facebook spokesperson also denied the accusations that the company played a direct role in Definers’ work, saying in a statement that “it is wrong to suggest that we have ever asked Definers to pay for or write articles on Facebook’s behalf, or communicate anything untrue.”

The company said it cut ties with Definers following the publication of the Times exposé and told HuffPost that top executives like Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg weren’t aware of Definers’ work for Facebook.

Excoriated for not taking the fake news crisis seriously enough, Facebook continues to grapple with “coordinated inauthentic behavior.” Dozens of pages and accounts were taken down ahead of the midterm elections, though whether these efforts were sufficient remains unclear.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.

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