Google, Twitter, Facebook Russia Hearing Underway.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/31/politics/facebook-russia-latest/index.html (Live Updates)

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/31/us/politics/facebook-twitter-google-hearings-congress.html

Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina and chairman of the subcommittee, asked Facebook to confirm a narrower point — that the pattern of activity it saw from Russia was more focused on sowing chaos in the United States than in bolstering Mr. Trump’s candidacy.

“During the election, they were trying to create discord between Americans, most of it directed against Clinton,” Mr. Graham said, addressing Facebook’s general counsel, Colin Stretch. “After the election, you saw Russian-tied groups and organizations trying to undermine President Trump’s legitimacy. Is that what you saw on Facebook?”

Mr. Stretch agreed.

In prepared remarks, Facebook said inflammatory posts by Russian agents intending to sow discord among Americans reached 126 million users. Google said that the same agents, from the Kremlin-linked Internet Research Agency, uploaded over 1,000 videos on YouTube. Twitter said they published more 131,000 messages on Twitter.

Wrong forum.

So which system does Russia favor?

@zaryia: Moved to the Political Gamers forum for you.

all of them? cause i was laughing my ass off that they delete fake accounts but when I report fakes they do jack crap cause it's not part of their terms of service that the fake accounts did nothing.

lmao one of the Russian ads,

i don't see the companies really being able to do anything productive about this. the real issue is idiots propagating garbage.

I don't know which is the biggest joke, that people really think those ads made a difference or that they want to control social media and Google lol.

Burying your head again? Every American should be disgusted by this. Or are you Russian? Woah..........

What should i be disgusted by? That Russia used the free market and bought some ad space?

Like America doesn´t do the same

Also the problem is more that people seem to live their lives on social media , which is the real problem. people should be smart enough not to get their news from Facecrap and Twitter.

How about we invest in our children so that one day when they're able to vote, they're smart enough to tell the difference between real journalism and click bait bullshit?

Seems like the only other option is to attempt and 'protect' a population too stupid to take five minutes out of their day and vet sources properly.

Hey I'm with you.....rather than increasing the military spending I'd like to put that money to healthcare and education.

A hostile foreign power trying to influence our election should disgust you. Are you so enamored in party politics were this isn't an issue to you?

Apparently....he's okay with. Had it be the reverse and they were behind Clinton and she was elected I think he'd have the opposite view. Party politics...........I agree with Washington.

Even some of the most hardcore GOP politicians are steaming over this. As they should be.

Except for the dire Trumpites. Cult over Country.

And? The problem again is not that they bought some ad space.

Also do you really think anyone belived those ads? Because i dont

But i know you democrats still have a hard time over losing the election, so maybe that´s the reason you are so upset.

I'm beyond disgusted by your party over country ideology.......weren't you screaming about kneeling during the anthem? Excusing this is BY FAR worse than that.

How? They are both agenda driven politicking delivered via a medium traditionally reserved for leisure. A legislative body shouldn't have anything to say about either one, as both should be protected by the first amendment. If Russia gets caught trying to hack election results, we have a major problem. As long as they are just trolling on the internet however, there is nothing going on worth hearings.

Heck, there really isn't anyone on this forum who can credibly claim political trolling should be illegal.

I always laugh when these treads come up. Some people really need to open a history book. The US pretty much wrote the propaganda handbook with page by page guides on how to meddle in other countries elections and topple governments, and people here act so surprised and disgusted when another country tries to use some of their same tactics against them.

I'm not a Democrat. Many independents and republicans agree with my stance. As seen in these hearings and polls.

Rather odd opinion though. Fortunately you aren't in power, and many in congress/senate disagree with you. As do facebook, google, and twitter. They are actively trying to prevent this and are further preparing for future elections (as outlined in these hearings). I was very happy to hear that real life actions are being taken, regardless of what extreme individuals on internet forums and blogs feel.

Ofcourse they can't stop all of it, but they are going to be more aggressive going forward in preventing these false and shady accounts by the Russian government from attempting to influence American politics.

I don't much care if the US used propaganda in other countries. As an American I do NOT want foreign interference in our elections....and if you can't see that then there is no hope for you. I know jacunuk can't.

Nah, just because we did it in the past doesn't mean I'm okay with being Putin's cuck. No one should be okay with the Russian government trying to influence our election through organized and massive trolling on top of hacking. Doesn't matter if we did the same, that doesn't make it fine. Just because we invented the Atom Bomb doesn't mean it should be okay for others to use it on us lol.

I'm very very glad that those in power and the leaders of these 3 companies disagree with you, jacanuk, and kittykat.

I'm not from the US so I couldn't give a hoot I just laugh at the hypocrisy. The US has pumped an obscene amount of money over the decades into countries around the globe in order to get the results they wanted. God forbid if Russia tries to get a more favourable position for their people.

@zaryia: corporations have taken over from inside through the Trojan horse method. What is the difference if Russia does it. They are allowed to say what they want by the Constitution.

Such hypocrisy on so many levels. This is America, if you don't like what someone is saying in the ads they buy, don't patronize the services that sell ads to them. Trolling on the internet is not an example of interference in an election, particularly when they are paying for the privilege.

Russia hacked the election and they also hacked the media and they hacked the internet. Its all confirmed now.

Clinton won the election :)

Also we never hacked any foreign elections... we just kill their leaders that is different. Because if people dont want what good for them, sometimes you have to invade them and kill them. And also they did the 9/11.

It's not hypocrisy. No country wants other countries interfering....and you're kidding yourself if you think you would be okay with that. Russia's people are NOT living in the US. It's not their business. Period.

Such a smug, arrogant, and ignorant comment. Where do live because their education is not impressive.

Hypocrisy because I don't think Americans should accept foreign interference in elections? You misuse words all the time or is this a first? You're so edgy.

Google, Facebook, and Twitter are actively shutting down such accounts. Measure are being taken by these tech companies, Senate, Congress, and IC agencies. My position is the one being enforced.

There isn't much to debate.

I disagree. If people in the middle east want to use any other currency than USD to trade oil, we have the right to invade them and kill them. Iraq, Lybia, Iran, Syria.... I say invade them all.

At least we are not hacking the elections like russian backstabbers!

We do it like real cis gender heterosexual men!

Depends on the trolling. In this case of massive organized troll farms using fake accounts and spam bots in the specific effort to influence American politics - it was very much meddling. At least according to The Congress, Senate, and IC.

They masqueraded as fake organizations and used massive spam, which is not allowed on these platforms as it breaks the TOS. This was a massive and coordinated effort by the Kremlin. Fortunately these companies deleted such accounts and are actively searching to stop them and seeking to aid in new legislation with the US Gov.

@zaryia: Does accusing countries of having WMDs and killing 2 million+ people count as trolling too?

You have WMDs.... die scum... just trolling lol jk.

How democrats have changed... these days they are the warmongers. Mccain should become democrat.

it can be framed as a freedom of speech issue. Does the american constitution only apply to american citizens? What about immigrants or green card holders living in the US, are they protected by the constitution? We see ads all the time--disgusting ads by corporations that are meant to get their desired candidate in to power--all for their own sake, to get special favors and benefits. Its how the game is played in the US and other "liberal democracies". So you can ask yourself if its ok that some party who might be doing something distasteful, but is still operating within the bounds of the law...how are they different than what these multinational corporations? Why are the rules different for them? The US is for sale, to the highest bidder...there is no morality when you live and die by the dollar.

They are breaking the TOS of those companies. These accounts can and have been shut down legally.

The handful of people who still think this is either a non issue or can't be helped should actually watch the hearings.

This is bipartisan.

Free speech does NOT apply to private entities. Deal with it.

it does according to the supreme court, which recognized private corporations as individuals and grants them all the rights (see citizens united ruling). Another republican short sighted law biting the country in the azz. Well, nevermind...nowadays the democrats are as right wing as the republicans are, at least when it comes to sucking off the rich. I would not be surprised if they staged that fake theatre and colluded to get the citizens united ruling passed.

yep, you said it yourself. The TOS of private companies is the only LEGIT avenue that the government can take to stop the russian propoganda. They can't take the legal route because well...according to the US law, the russians didn't do anything wrong. Russians might have spread the fake news, but it was the right wing conservative americans who were the ones that spread the news, shared it, retweeted it, etc etc, no matter how ridiculous the claims were. The problem is the right wing in this country and the elites don't know what to do when a huge segment of the population is just that stupid. Of course, the elites were the ones who tried to keep them down in the first place, keep them uneducated...but now its biting them in the ass in unexpected ways.

No. Private entities do not have to allow you free speech. You're totally confused.

One it is advertising online not interference in elections. Two you said yourself you don't care if America engages in similar activities. That is the definition of hypocrisy. Three you are using your first amendment right to attack that of others. While you can disagree that this form of expression is protected, if it is is yet another level of your hypocrisy. Finally you are a troll, so whimpering about trolling is pretty darn hypocritical.

The Intelligence Community and House Intelligence Committee disagree with your opinion. The three companies mentioned have already taken action and continue to coordinate preventative measures.

It's in Russian interest to cause fragmentation in the USA e.g. gave $$$$ to BLM.

http://money.cnn.com/2017/09/27/media/facebook-black-lives-matter-targeting/index.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/facebook-russia-ads-posts-hillary-clinton-most-bizarre-posts-election-2016-a8032436.html

USA help caused USSR to fragment... The trigger was the Korean war after USSR /China backed North Koreans to break US and USSR agreement on "sphere of influence".

Identity politics are damaging race neutrality factors and can bring division.

Of course that's not giving money to BLM, thats the purchasing of adverting space that goes to facebook.

But hey, its America. What can't you blame on black people here? You have both parties and candidates as corrupted as it gets, a Russian red scare created by the republicans 2.0 and some how... some way, we figured out a way to blame it on black people.

Vegas shooter? According to Alex Jones who "had the documents right here!"... or, i should say "I have the email here, but im deleting it and you cant see it", it was BLM that got this guy to do what he did.

Education? Clearly the blacks are the problem.

Police? Obviously the unarmed black citizens being harassed by power hungry lunatics are the problem.

Its always those pesky blacks, just name a problem and we can draw a line right to them being at the core.

That's purchasing of adverting dollars that goes to facebook that supports BLM's agenda.

Again, identity politics are damaging race neutrality factors and can bring division.

And in return facebook might tor might not buy more ads. Thats it. And that's if this is even true, i suspect its not. CNN is not known for being factually accurate.

The only reason it becomes a political identity is because of people against what a non-partisan movement/groups, are attempting to accomplish. Which as a reminder is police reform to ensure equality of treatment for all races. Politically their only concern is who is going to move to enact this reform.

I find it a bit funny that the people who bitch the most about identity politics, are the one's who take part in it more than anyone else.

1. CNN is not only source for news. The reason why I used CNN is for the Zaryia

2. There's nothing wrong with race neutrality (all lives matter) push against identity politics.

1, Yes ive seen the multiple sources and they all seem to be repeating each other.

2. There is if you're not paying attention to the problems or listening to what the people are proposing and instead simply focusing on the name. Which seems to be the case here and btw, again, you're the one taking part in these identity politics you say you hate so much, you're simply justifying it now. The whole "all lives matters" thing is a simpleton creation for those who either cant be bothered with details or bigots. If we were actually paying attention then we'd know what BLM supports, and the changes being demanded would affect everyone. So with your own reasoning the issue is the word black, and as we always see in America, when a group has "black" in the name, it will be met with racism, false accusations, the worst we have to offer. Look at the altered history of Black Panthers among republicans and the corrupted. This was a group that started for basically the same exact reasons that BLM started, except 50 years ago and instead of simply demanding change, they policed the police. So we got the reaction expected when you police the police. Demonizing. Dehumanizing. Bullshit stories.

There is nothing partisan about BLMs except for support, which is an external factor. BLM groups themselves, are demanding these changes from everyone. The only people turning this into some kind of political identity, are yourself and those who did what you support.

Yup, but you know it´s ok when America does it because they are the "good guys"

Also the real problem here is not that Russia bought ads, if Hillary had won no one would even think about it let alone be "disgusted" by it. The problem is that they can´t grasp that Trump won. In their little narrow worldview Trump should have lost.