Executives from Facebook, Google and Twitter began testifying before a congressional committee on Tuesday about the extent of Russia’s campaign to disrupt the U.S. presidential election by spreading fake news on their sites. And the problem is worse than previously reported: Facebook now says that 126 million people in the U.S. may have seen posts from Russian-backed agents, Google says over 1,000 Kremlin-linked ads were uploaded to its YouTube service, and Twitter says over 130,000 messages were tweeted. We take a closer look at the impact of Russia’s social media influence in spreading disinformation.
Guests:
Noam Cohen, author, “The Know-It-Alls: The Rise of Silicon Valley as a Political Powerhouse and Social Wrecking Ball”; former New York Times technology correspondent
Laura Sydell, digital culture correspondent, NPR
Nitasha Tiku, senior writer, WIRED