Does Facebook Equal Radio Liberty?

According to some sources Russian hackers have been successful in thwarting the coronation of Queen Hillary by posting on phony Facebook accounts prior to the 2016 presidential election. These scoundrels did not succeed in penetrating the election process itself, however.

Various influential political figures have called this behavior an "act of war".

Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.) most recently accused Russia of engaging in warfare.
“I think this attack that we’ve experienced is a form of war, a form of war on our fundamental democratic principles,” Coleman said during a hearing this week at the House Homeland Security Committee.

It's only been in the very recent past that a technological innovation like Facebook could even be used in any kind of campaign, political or otherwise, and  domestic players have been quick to use it and other internet social media to advance their own candidates and causes. That's apparently OK, or at least tolerated for the present.

Like anything else, technological advancements in communication have had effects on international relations. The "Zimmerman Telegram", for instance, was a major factor in the US entry into WWI. German foreign secretary Arthur Zimmerman had proposed an alliance to the Mexican government that involved the return of areas in the southwest US to Mexico. It was intercepted by the British and its public release produced outrage in the US that culminated in the American entry into the war in April 1917.

In 1949 the US established Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty to broadcast the capitalist/democratic message to Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. This service is still provided 68 years later despite many changes in politics, government and technology in what were once the members of the Warsaw Pact. The combined efforts of RFE/RL, financed by the CIA until 1972, are broadcast in 23 different languages to 26 separate countries with a budget of over $108 million and a work force of almost 500 people, headquartered in Prague, the Czech Republic. Iran, Armenia, Pakistan and Afghanistan have been added to the targets of the service.