LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman denied Wednesday that he had any idea that his money would be used for a campaign that spread disinformation during last year’s special election for the Alabama Senate seat.
Hoffman was linked to the campaign, which used fake news in order to try to split Roy Moore’s support, by the New York Times last week in an extensive look at New Knowledge, a cyber security firm that created fake Facebook accounts to divide Republicans by endorsing a write-in candidate.
Hoffman said he didn’t directly fund New Knowledge, but rather an organization called American Engagement Technologies, which aimed to fight fake news and bots. American Engagement Technologies, then, funded New Knowledge.
“I categorically disavow the use of misinformation to sway an election,” Hoffman wrote on Medium.
Over the weekend, Facebook shut down five accounts linked to the project.
“We've recently removed five accounts run by multiple individuals for engaging in coordinated inauthentic behavior on Facebook around the Alabama special election, and our investigation is ongoing. We take a strong stand against people or organizations that create networks of accounts to mislead others about who they are or what they’re doing,” a Facebook spokesperson confirmed to the Daily News.
Democrat Doug Jones, who narrowly defeated Moore, said he was “outraged” by the campaign and called for the Federal Election Commission and the Justice Department to investigate.
“We have focused so much on Russia that we haven’t focused on the fact that people in this country could take the same playbook and do the same damn thing,” he told the Times.
Hoffman backed Jones’ call for an investigation.
“We cannot permit dishonest campaign tactics to go unchecked in our democracy — no matter which side they purportedly help,” he wrote.
Moore, who faced multiple allegations of sexual misconduct leading up to the election, lost the race by about 20,000 votes.