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Twitter tells Congress it has suspended hundreds of Russia-linked accounts Democrats rebuke Twitter for 'frankly inadequate' response to Russian meddling
(about 2 hours later)
Twitter has suspended 201 accounts tied to Russian-linked sources that purchased thousands of dollars of political ads on Facebook during the 2016 presidential election, officials from the social media giant told congressional investigators on Thursday. Twitter has suspended 201 accounts tied to Russian-linked sources that posted political ads on Facebook during the 2016 presidential election, officials from the social media giant told congressional investigators on Thursday.
In a blogpost, Twitter said it shared its findings during a series of briefings in Washington on Thursday with staff from the Senate and House intelligence committees. Top Democrats, however, said they were disappointed by Twitter’s presentation and questioned its commitment to investigations into Russian attempts to influence the US vote.
The company also identified three accounts linked to the news site Russia Today, known by its acronym, RT, that spent $274,100 on sponsored tweets in 2016. The blogpost noted that the intelligence officials have previously linked the news network to the Kremlin. Senator Mark Warner, the ranking Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee who was among those briefed by Twitter, said the company displayed an “enormous lack of understanding” and called its presentation to his panel “frankly inadequate on almost every level”.
“Neither the original accounts shared by Facebook, nor the additional related accounts we identified, were registered as advertisers on Twitter,” Twitter said in the blogpost. “However, we continue to investigate these issues, and will take action on anything that violates our terms of service.” “There is a lot more work they have to do,” Warner told reporters.
The meeting between officials from Twitter and congressional investigators was part of a widening inquiry into the extent that Russia sought to use social media platforms to influence the outcome of the 2016 election. The US intelligence community has concluded that Russia meddled in the election to damage Hillary Clinton’s chances and boost those of Donald Trump. Social media companies such as Twitter and Facebook are under mounting pressure from Congress and the public to provide more information about the spread of Russian propaganda and disinformation on their platforms.
The closed-door briefings followed a similar briefing involving Facebook, which revealed earlier this month that it sold more than 3,000 election ads linked to a Russian agency. Twitter detailed the meetings with Capitol Hill staffers in a blogpost published on Thursday. The closed-door briefings followed a similar briefing involving Facebook, which revealed earlier this month that it sold more than 3,000 election ads linked to a Russian agency. Facebook has said it will provide Congress with copies of those ads as well as payment information and who the ads targeted.
The Senate and House committees are trying to understand the degree to which Russia and groups allied with the Kremlin may have used such platforms to spread fake news stories and misinformation – and what the companies could have done to stem such attacks. Congressman Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House intelligence panel, said Twitter’s findings appeared to be based on Facebook’s disclosures and said the company had “significant work to do to understand the depth and breadth of Russian activity during the campaign”.
The House intelligence committee announced on Wednesday that it plans an open hearing with the tech companies “in the coming month”. A Senate aide confirmed that Twitter, Facebook and Google’s parent company, Alphabet, have been invited to testify publicly on 1 November. “This additional analysis will require a far more robust investigation into how Russian actors used their platform as a part of their active measures campaign and whether any of the targeting on Twitter suggests the possibility of assistance or collusion with any US persons,” Schiff said.
“In the coming month, we will hold an open hearing with representatives from tech companies in order to better understand how Russia used online tools and platforms to sow discord in and influence our election,” said California congressman Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee. The suspended Twitter accounts were tied to the 470 Russia-linked accounts and pages that Facebook removed after they promoted messages intended to amplify divisive social issues such as gun control, race relations and immigration – all of which were central to Trump’s campaign.
“Congress and the American people need to hear this important information directly from these companies.” Twitter said it identified 22 accounts that corresponded with the ones shared by Facebook as part of its review. Twitter then found an additional 179 accounts related or linked to those accounts, it said.
Twitter is under increased pressure from lawmakers and the public to disclose what it knows about Russian activity. Facebook has come under increased scrutiny after acknowledging that hundreds of accounts and pages probably operated from Russia spent nearly $100,000 on ads. Twitter also identified three accounts linked to the news site Russia Today, known by its acronym, RT, that spent $274,100 on sponsored tweets in 2016. The blogpost noted that the intelligence officials have linked the news network to the Kremlin.
The ads, which have not been publicly released, did not focus on the election or a particular candidate, Facebook said. Rather, the intent was to amplify divisive issues such as immigration, gun rights and race relations – all central to Donald Trump’s campaign. “Neither the original accounts shared by Facebook, nor the additional related accounts we identified, were registered as advertisers on Twitter,” the blogpost said. “However, we continue to investigate these issues, and will take action on anything that violates our terms of service.”
In a video statement earlier this month, Facebook’s chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, said: “I don’t want anyone to use our tools to undermine democracy. That’s not what we stand for.” Facebook’s findings entangled both social media companies in the Russia investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller, raising calls for increased transparency around political advertising on social media platforms. Twitter acknowledged such demands and on Thursday said it will examine its current guidelines with “an eye to improving them”.
Twitter has until now been largely been silent on the subject. In a June blogpost, vice-president of public policy Colin Crowell wrote: “Twitter’s open and real-time nature is a powerful antidote to the spreading of all types of false information. Facebook has faced the harshest scrutiny so far. Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday apologized for initially dismissing the notion that fake news on Facebook had influenced the election as a “pretty crazy idea”.
“Calling that crazy was dismissive and I regret it,” Zuckerberg wrote in a Facebook post responding to a claim by the president that the platform is “anti-Trump”. “This is too important an issue to be dismissive.
The Senate and House committees are trying to understand what companies could have done to stem Russian attempts to spread fake news stories and misinformation.
The House intelligence committee announced on Wednesday that it plans to hold an open hearing with the tech companies next month. A Senate aide confirmed that Twitter, Facebook and Google’s parent company, Alphabet, have been invited to testify publicly before the Senate intelligence committee on 1 November.
Twitter had previously been relatively quiet on the subject. In a June blogpost, vice-president of public policy Colin Crowell wrote: “Twitter’s open and real-time nature is a powerful antidote to the spreading of all types of false information.
“This is important because we cannot distinguish whether every single Tweet from every person is truthful or not. We, as a company, should not be the arbiter of truth.”“This is important because we cannot distinguish whether every single Tweet from every person is truthful or not. We, as a company, should not be the arbiter of truth.”