Under pressure, social media giants acknowledge meddling
WASHINGTON — In three exhaustive hearings this week, executives from Facebook, Twitter and Google acknowledged that their platforms were used by Russia to try and create division over such disparate issues as immigration, gun control and politics. House investigators released a trove of Facebook and Twitter ads that showed just how extraordinary the cyber intrusion was.
The companies’ admissions and disclosures over the last several months have given congressional investigators one of their first real wins in the Russia probes. The committees have been frustrated by delays — and overshadowed by special counsel Robert Mueller — since they launched probes into Russian interference in the 2016 election earlier this year. Initially dismissive of Russia’s threat, all three companies have pledged improvements since lawmakers ramped up pressure and called them to testify.
It’s unclear what next steps Congress will take. The top Democrat on the Senate intelligence panel, Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, has co-sponsored legislation that would bring political ad rules from TV, radio and print to the internet. Warner calls it “the lightest touch possible,” but many Republicans have been lukewarm.
California Rep. Adam Schiff, the senior Democrat on the House intelligence panel, said he thinks such advertising regulations for social media are “inevitable,” but noted that many of the fixes will come down to the companies’ own social responsibility.