If you haven’t been paying attention to the ongoing Congressional investigation into Facebook’s part of the Russian election scandal, you should.

Far from being a political witch hunt or “a hoax” as President Donald Trump Tweeted on Friday, the fact is, Facebook sold thousands of political ads to people with fake accounts. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted that last week and earlier in the month the company issues a statement admitting it made at least $100,000 through 470 phony accounts.

Those ads were used to micro-target specific demographics with the specific motive of undermining our democratic process.

In simple terms, secret Russian operates wanted to confuse and divide voters and they wanted to discredit a candidate.

As the Washington Post reported on Monday, “The Russian campaign — taking advantage of Facebook’s ability to send contrary messages to different groups of users based on their political and demographic characteristics — also sought to sow discord among religious groups. Other ads highlighted support for Democrat Hillary Clinton among Muslim women.”

Moreover, the Post reported the ads show “a deep understanding of social divides in American society, with some ads promoting African American rights groups, including Black Lives Matter, and others suggesting that these same groups pose a rising political threat, say people familiar with the covert influence campaign.”

Last week, as Congress bore down on his company’s responsibility, Zuckerberg agreed to beef up security and to toughen up its ad buying policies.

Gee, a little late to the party guys.

One’s political affiliation should not matter: The fact that one of the biggest (and richest) media companies in the world was apparently unable or unwilling to stop scam ads prior to a Congressional investigation is troubling. Only a week ago did Zuckerberg announce that Facebook will ban untraceable ads.

This should have been an obvious prohibition from the outset. Russian agents have been trying to influence American media since the Cold War, as the Post points out, but with social media, they have an unprecedented chance to tap into and exploit the fears of millions of Americans all at once. In a matter of hours, most of America could be debating whatever divisive, hot-button issue the Kremlin would like us to focus on.

It’s demoralizing that these tech companies—the very companies that on the one hand try to appear as paragons of progressiveness—will so clearly and quickly sell out to Russian shills and for virtually nothing.

In the early days of the Internet, parents warned their children of the danger of anonymity online. Stories abounded of strangers stalking the bulletin board forums, lurking for children.

That danger has faded into the rear view mirror, thanks in no small part to Facebook. That company broke from the pack and established a new norm of real names, real faces and, mostly, real profiles. There’s ample evidence the company cracks down on pseudonyms in an attempt to create virtual communities that feel as real as possible.

Yet, by allowing anonymous ad buys and doing nothing for months while outside tech experts pointed to evidence of repeated Russian interference on Facebook and by allowing Russian shills to prey on the residents in those virtual communities, it is obvious what the value of those communities means to Zuckerberg et al.

Simply put, those communities (and you, and I and we) are as valuable as they are profitable and the fact that it is illegal for foreign interests to financially influence elections here means nothing.

As it stands, Facebook and other social media companies could face increased government regulation. Currently, online political advertisements do not even have to meet the minimum requirements for television ads. We have seen how the company behaves with no legal responsibilities—it behaves also without responsibility to its users. It seems clear to me—waiting for Facebook to do the right thing will be a long wait indeed.

Maybe it’s finally time to act.