Facebook, Twitter, Google defend security measures

Associated Press

As revelations emerged that Russian-linked accounts reached many more American voters than previously thought, tech giants Facebook, Twitter and Google on Tuesday defended their security measures and promised a Senate subcommittee they would do more to stop the misuse of their platforms by foreign nations.

Lawyers for the three companies acknowledged to U.S. lawmakers that Russian-linked accounts began exploiting their services in 2015 to sway last year’s presidential election.

They also said the abuses continued after President Donald Trump took office, in an attempt to deepen divisions in the country.

The admissions came Tuesday during appearances before a Senate subcommittee looking into Russia’s manipulation of influential communication channels to interfere in the 2016 election. The mischief came through advertising purchased on the services and posts containing misleading or false information.

All three companies vowed to do a better job preventing similar interference from Russia and other “bad actors” in the future.

Early on, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said the purpose of the hearing was for the government to “figure out how we can help” the tech companies. But in the second hour of the meeting, Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont said he’d been hearing a lot of “Johnny-come-latelies” from the companies when they could have done something earlier.

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, meanwhile, pressed the companies to declare whether they will support the “Honest Ads” bill she has introduced with Sen. Mark Warner, which would bring political ad rules from TV, radio and print to the internet.

Each of the tech giants offered qualified support rather than answering “yes.”

“We stand ready to work with you and your co-sponsors on that legislation going forward,” said Facebook general counsel Colin Stretch, who was echoed by Twitter’s and Google’s representatives.