U.S. Senators Unimpressed With Facebook, Google, Twitter Efforts To Staunch Russian Misinformation Campaign

WASHINGTON DC – Facebook, Google and Twitter came to Capitol Hill to argue they’re ready to fight back against the scourge of fake news and the Russian misinformation campaign that influenced the 2016 US presidential election.

The senators were left unimpressed.

“You showed a lack of resources, commitment and a lack of genuine effort,” said Sen. Mark Warner, a Democrat from Virginia. The Senate Intelligence Committee has been studying this issue since January and, he said, the committee’s early concerns “were frankly blown off by your leadership.”

“That’s not enough,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat from California, shot back when Twitter General Counsel Sean Edgett said the company is constantly improving its process of identifying propaganda on its platform.

Edgett, alongside Facebook General Counsel Colin Stretch and Google General Counsel Kent Walker, faced intense questions on Capitol Hill on Wednesday — the second day of hearings looking into how such powerful companies were able to let Russian operatives effectively use their platforms to spread fake news and outrage.