Trump-Russia probe: Twitter to be questioned by US Senate Committee on 2016 presidential election

Tech giants are under pressure to open up on how political advertising swayed the US election

US Senate Select Committee is looking into the role social media played in the 2016 US presidential election (REUTERS)

Twitter representatives will meet with the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence staff next week in relation to inquiries into the 2016 US presidential election, a company representative said.

The committee, along with other congressional committees and special counsel Robert Mueller, is investigating possible links between President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia.

Twitter’s meeting with the committee comes amid mounting pressure on regulators and Silicon Valley companies to open up the opaque world of online political ads and to prevent governments from using them to sway elections or attempt other meddling.

Facebook said earlier this month that a Russia-based operation spent $100,000 (£74,130) on thousands of ads on its social media platform promoting ‘divisive’ messages before and after last year’s presidential election.

After Facebook’s revelations, Democrats have urged the Federal Election Commission to require transparency for social media advertising.

Russia continues to deny meddling in the election, in which Republican Donald Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Reuters