Cybersecurity
Tech Companies Set to Tell Congress About Russian Election Meddling
- Tech giants tout moves to crack down on election-ad abuses
- Russian Facebook posts reached newsfeeds of 126 million users
How a Russian Group Used Facebook to Buy Political Ads
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Congress will put Facebook, Twitter and Google under a public microscope Tuesday about Russia’s use of their networks to meddle in the 2016 election, a day after Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s criminal investigation disclosed its first indictments and guilty plea.
Senators want to know how the companies failed to keep Russians from exploiting their networks and using fake accounts to spread chaos and disinformation. The three companies’ general counsels will appear before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee Tuesday, with Facebook poised to say Russians bought 3,000 Facebook ads mostly with rubles and that posts reached the newsfeeds of 126 million users.