The Senate Intelligence Committee expects representatives of Facebook
Inc to testify at a public hearing examining Russia’s use of social media to
influence last year’s US presidential election.
The panel hasn’t yet determined all of the issues that will be covered
or invited company representatives, Chairman Richard Burr, a North Carolina
Republican, told reporters in Washington. He said the hearing may also include
Twitter Inc and other social media companies.
”We’re in agreement on a Facebook public hearing,” Burr said. “It’s
just a question of when and potentially the scope.”
Facebook has provided special counsel Robert Mueller, who is leading a
federal probe of Russian election meddling, details on political ad spending
from a Russian group that tried to sow discord online ahead of the election.
Facebook has said it is cooperating with investigators. The company’s
policy is to only provide information to the government if there is a valid
court order, subpoena or search warrant.
'Red-hot’ focus
Mueller is trying to determine whether there were any links between
Russia’s activity and President Donald Trump’s election campaign. Facebook and
other social media is a “red-hot” focus of the probe, officials have said.
Facebook has said it found about US$100,000 in ad spending
connected to fake accounts probably run from Russia. Facebook marketing is
becoming increasingly important for election strategy, but social media ads are
not legally required to provide the same transparency as ads that run on more
traditional forums like television.
Twitter is scheduled to give a private briefing
to the committee soon, Warner said earlier. — Bloomberg
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