washington facebook inc fb.o chief operate officer sheryl sandberg say thursday company commit help u.s. congressional investigators publicly release russia-backed political ads run 2016 u.s. election things happen platform election happen sandberg say interview washington axios news broadcast website tell congress intelligence committees ready release ads ready help them axios ask sandberg world large social network know extent russia use platform ads facebook place russian account donald trump presidential campaign overlap term target audiences appear sidestep question say target facebook often broad interview first senior facebook executive since company disclose last month find 3,000 politically divisive ads believe buy russia presidential campaign u.s. intelligence agencies conclude russia use cyber-enabled mean attempt help trump win white house allegation kremlin deny sandberg washington meet u.s. lawmakers sandberg tell congressional black caucus thursday facebook plan add african-american board directors source familiar closed-door meet say offer detail board criticize lack diversity two facebook executives erin egan elliot schrage also meet privately representative jackie speier california democrat member house intelligence committee facebook major internet company include alphabet google googl.o twitter twtr.n defensive try limit fallout torrent revelations moscow seek use platforms sow discord unite state influence election sandberg tell axios facebook begin hear rumor around election day last november russian attempt use platform spread propaganda give precise timeline company begin review sandberg say support public release ads page connect information ads target specific type users would also release say ask facebook contribute democratic candidate hillary clinton defeat last year sandberg open clinton supporter campaign answer directly say important website free abuse election country congressional committees special counsel robert mueller investigate russian interference election include whether collusion trump associate moscow trump deny collusion campaign associate russia sandberg acknowledge company err handle issue foreign interference last year apologize angry upset really owe american people determination good job prevent foreign meddle say want kind foreign interference facebook sandberg say say company permissive time term advertisers allow target users sandberg say important protect free expression facebook russian ads buy legitimate account instead fraudulent ones many would allow run site criticize twitter decision week remove campaign video republican representative marsha blackburn run u.s. senate seat tennessee twitter take video say remark blackburn make oppose abortion inflammatory twitter late reverse decision ad lot things people like like ... question divisive political issue ads run answer yes cut speech one person cut speech people say sandberg say facebook want internet company work toward make ad purchase transparent say facebook talk lawmakers want introduce legislation issue representatives facebook google twitter expect testify russian influence hear senate house intelligence committees nov. 1. facebook help investigators release russia ads sandberg tell axios