Facebook, Twitter to tell Congress about Russia-linked posts

WASHINGTON (AP) — Tech giants Facebook, Twitter and Google are set to go before senators today to defend their security measures as new revelations have emerged that Russian-linked accounts reached many more American voters than previously thought.

Testimony from Facebook obtained by The Associated Press on Monday revealed that posts generated by a Russian internet agency potentially reached as many as 126 million users. In the testimony, the company said that pages created by Russia's Internet Research Agency generated 80,000 posts on 120 pages between January 2015 and August 2017. Possible views reached the millions after people liked the posts and shared them.

Colin Stretch, Facebook's general counsel, plans to disclose the new numbers to Congress in testimony to a Senate Judiciary subcommittee, according to a source familiar with the testimony. The person declined to be named because the committee has not officially released it.

Facebook, along with Twitter and Google, are set to testify at three hearings today and Wednesday as part of congressional probes of Russian election interference.

Stretch's testimony makes clear that many of those users may never have seen the material. The company says the total number represents around 1 out of 23,000 pieces of content on the site.

These "organic" posts that appeared in Facebook users' news feeds are distinct from more than 3,000 advertisements linked to the agency that Facebook has already turned over to congressional committees. The ads – many of which focused on divisive social issues – pointed people to the agency's pages, where they could then like or share its material.