Facebook to give Congress thousands of ads bought by Russians during election

Mark Zuckerberg says providing ads will 'help government authorities complete the vitally important work of assessing what happened' in the election

Facebook will provide to Congress the contents of 3,000 advertisements purchased by Russians during the 2016 US presidential race, Mark Zuckerberg announced on Thursday following weeks of scrutiny surrounding the social network's potential role in influencing elections.

The CEO said in a Facebook live video that the company would provide the controversial ads to government officials to support ongoing investigations in the US and as part of the social media company's renewed efforts to protect the "integrity" of elections around the world.