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Russian interference in the campaign included covert ads on social media and phony Facebook groups pumping out falsehoods. The U.S. Senate election in Alabama in December was rife with fake online reports in support of Republican Roy Moore, who eventually lost to Democrat Doug Jones amid allegations that Moore had sexual contact with teenagers when he was a prosecutor in his 30s. The difference now is how quickly false information spreads. A study released this past week found that false information spreads faster and wider on Twitter than real news stories. But online ads have no comparable requirements. Facebook has partnered with media organizations, including The Associated Press, to flag false information on its platform. Still, because there are so many candidates for office in the U.S., Facebook is limiting itself to federal races at first. Who Targets You designed an online tool that will collect Facebook political ads and deposit them in a database. Other organizations, including the AP, have begun publishing stories specifically intended to knock down false information circulating on social media. In Seattle's municipal election last year, online ad spending increased 5,000 percent over the previous cycle in 2013.