Twitter and Facebook's leaders could be called to testify before Congress in the Russia investigation


Representatives from Facebook and Twitter could be asked to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee in the ongoing investigation into Russia's involvement in the 2016 election, Recode reports.
Facebook admitted last week that it unknowingly sold $100,000 worth of ads to a Russian "troll farm" during the 2016 presidential election. On Monday, The Daily Beast additionally reported that Russians used fake identities to organize inflammatory protests in the United States and advertised them on Facebook.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) said Tuesday that "we're seeing more evidence of additional ads and how they are used to manipulate individuals." He said representatives from social media companies should be required to testify in a "public hearing" and that he plans to discuss it with committee chairman Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) at some point this week.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"Let's face it, the whole notion of social media and how it is used in political campaigns is the wild wild west," Warner added. "And again, I'll grant Facebook that maybe they weren't as fully aware in the immediate aftermath of our elections, although for many months they said this didn't happen. I've wondered about that." Read the full report at Recode.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
-
Bluetoothing: the phenomenon driving HIV spike in Fiji
Under the Radar ‘Blood-swapping’ between drug users fuelling growing health crisis on Pacific island
-
Marisa Silver’s 6 favorite books that capture a lifetime
Feature The author recommends works by John Williams, Ian McEwan, and more
-
Book reviews: ‘We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution’ and ‘Will There Ever Be Another You’
Feature The many attempts to amend the U.S. Constitution and Patricia Lockwood’s struggle with long Covid
-
Electronic Arts to go private in record $55B deal
speed read The video game giant is behind ‘The Sims’ and ‘Madden NFL’
-
New York court tosses Trump's $500M fraud fine
Speed Read A divided appeals court threw out a hefty penalty against President Trump for fraudulently inflating his wealth
-
Trump said to seek government stake in Intel
Speed Read The president and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reportedly discussed the proposal at a recent meeting
-
US to take 15% cut of AI chip sales to China
Speed Read Nvidia and AMD will pay the Trump administration 15% of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with Disney
Speed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B deal
Speed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance merger
Speed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profits
Speed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits