Tech Executives Testify on Capitol Hill About Russian Election Interference

Facebook, Google and Twitter arrived on Capitol Hill for two days of marathon hearings that started on Oct 31 with the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on crime and terrorism. Top executives for the social media giants are being grilled by lawmakers investigating Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election, including how the online platforms were used to spread misinformation and propaganda. Ahead of the hearings, all three companies announced on Oct 30 that the number of Russian-linked accounts on their sites were higher than previously disclosed. Facebook said agents using those accounts disseminated information that reached 126 million users.

In a heated exchange, Sen Al Franken (D-MN) asked Facebook to reject political ad purchases in foreign currencies. But Colin Stretch, Facebook’s general counsel, hemmed, saying the rejection of a foreign currency for political ad placements wouldn’t solve the problem of foreign interference. When his turn came for questioning, Sen Ted Cruz (R-TX) pushed the conversation toward a very different concern: Tech companies putting a “thumb on the scale” in the country’s political debate. “The prospect of Silicon Valley companies actively censoring speech, or the news content, is troubling to anyone who cares about a democratic process with a robust first amendment,” Sen Cruz said.

Google tries to distance itself from Facebook and Twitter: In his opening remarks, Richard Salgado, Google’s senior counsel of law enforcement and information security, walked a tightrope. He said that the company was taking the threat of government-backed interference seriously, but noted that Google’s array of services functioned differently than its social media peers, Facebook and Twitter. He said while Russian agents used YouTube, owned by Google, to upload political videos, it gained momentum because of social media platforms.

Ahead of the hearing, Facebook and Twitter announced they would voluntarily disclose the sources of funding behind political ads. On Oct 31, all declined to endorse a bill intended to bring more transparency to online political ads on their platforms. Sen Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), who introduced the Honest Ads Act earlier in Oct, pressed representatives from the three companies during a Senate Judiciary Committee subcommittee hearing. "My first question is simply will you support our bill?" Sen Klobuchar asked. The companies all responded by saying that they were willing to work with lawmakers on legislation that brings more transparency to the ad process, but none of the representatives were willing to endorse the current bill.