Facebook ran ads in Moldova for oligarch sanctioned by US

Facebook allowed a Moldovan oligarch with ties to the Kremlin to run ads on its platform urging protests against that country's government — even though he and his political party are subject to U.S. sanctions. The ads were removed, but not before they were seen millions of times in Moldova. They were bought by Ilan Shor, a pro-Russian politician who fled his country after he was implicated in a $1 billion theft from Moldovan banks. The U.S. sanctioned Shor last year for his role in Russian efforts to destabilize Moldova. Meta, which owns Facebook, said it follows all U.S. sanctions laws and removed the ads as soon as it identified them.