On Tuesday, 1st of November 2017, the US Senators have pressed the Chief Layers and Attorneys of Facebook Inc for not investigating and seizing the 2016 election ads bought using the Rubles from Russia. They were pressed by the Senators for not investigating the case seriously and for taking so many months to sort out the complaint. They were also asked by the Senators to prove how well they know their five million advertisers.
The Democrats as well as the Republicans present that the crime subcommittee gearing fired a long list of question for at least two hours at the general Counsel of Facebook Inc, Colin Stretch. The questioning session last for two hours and it is all about the investigation into the allegations that the Russia has used the social networking site to influence the 2016 Presidential election held last year!
Russia Used Ads and Tweets to Influence Presidential Election
The following are some of the ads and tweets that Russians tried to influence the Presidential election.
Lawmakers Criticised Social Media Giants and Tech Companies Over Russian Facebook Ads
The Democratic Senator, Patrick Leahy also added that the advertising department of Facebook might have noticed the profits influx so to say about this matter. Well, to confront this question, Mr. Stretch said that “Facebook is highly dedicated towards figuring out the fake names and accounts that are being used during that phase”. The lawyers from all these popular social sites namely Twitter, Google Plus and Facebook will again return to the Capitol Hill on Wednesday so as to face the two more hearings on the Russian Ad Spending.
To confront the senators, Colin Stretch said that “Facebook has a broader lens, but they missed some of the signals. He also considered that the Russian based ads were reprehensible for the political divisiveness. It is undeniable fact that the social networking site like Facebook has wider reach than all its competitors like Twitter network and hence it offers robust targeting capabilities compared to its counterparts.
Since the lawyers from Alphabet Inc and Twitter Inc face many questions regarding how Russians have used their services for promotion and advertisements, they are required to be present at the next hearing on Wednesday at the Capitol Hills. However, in the hearing session the Facebook’s lawyers drew the bulk of ire of the Senators because of its comprehensive role in targeted marketing over the internet today.
In between the hearing, the Russian Government has denied the allegations for influencing the 2016 Presidential election where the Republican Donald Trump has triumph over Democrat Hillary Clinton. Finally, the lawyers from Facebook has responded to a proposal for self regulation stating that they would design a public archive for election related advertisements in future.