Facebook, Twitter are under pressure to investigate #ReleaseTheMemo


The #ReleaseTheMemo social media campaign swelled last week as many, including Wikileaks and Edward Snowden, called for the memo to be released to the public. Now, two members of Congress are asking Twitter and Facebook to look into a potential Russian role in the viral spread of the hashtag campaign.

The memo in question is one written by Representative Devin Nunes, a Republican on the House Intelligence committee, that alleges the intelligence community committed abuses that impact the president. The memo claims to be based on top secret intelligence shared to a small group of Congressional leaders by the FBI. However, Representative Adam Schiff, a Democrat on the committee who was also present at the meeting with the FBI, has said that the memo is "a misleading set of talking points attacking the FBI." Democrats have said that the memo is only meant to undermine Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into collusion between the Trump administration and Russia.

Last Thursday, the House Intelligence committee voted to make the memo available to all Representatives and the #ReleaseTheMemo campaign continued to spread. But Representative Schiff and Senator Dianne Feinstein have now written a letter to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg requesting an investigation into who is involved in spreading the campaign across their platforms. They cite evidence provided by the German Marshall Fund's Alliance for Securing Democracy, which has said that by last Friday the hashtag was "the top trending hashtag among Twitter accounts believed to be operated by Kremlin-linked groups." The group also said it was being used 100 times more than other hashtags used by accounts believed to be associated with Russian actors.

"If these reports are accurate, we are witnessing an ongoing attack by the Russian government through Kremlin-linked social media actors directly acting to intervene and influence our democratic process," said Schiff and Feinstein in the letter. "This should be disconcerting to all Americans, but especially your companies as, once again, it appears the vast majority of their efforts are concentrated on your platforms." They request that the two companies look into whether there are any Russia-linked accounts involved in the hashtag campaign and if so, how many. They also want information on the frequency and volume of their posts as well as how many others on Facebook and Twitter have been exposed to their posts. They're requesting the two companies provide a public report to Congress by January 26th.

Source: House Intelligence Committee

via Engadget RSS Feed "http://ift.tt/2BodBYH"

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Evernote cuts staff as user growth stalls

Image
Note-taking app Evernote has fallen on hard times of late, culminating in its latest spate of job cuts impacting 15 percent of its workforce (54 employees). CEO Chris O' Neil -- an ex-Googler who took the reins in 2015 -- announced the firings at an all-hands meeting earlier today, reports TechCrunch . In a message on the Evernote blog , O' Neill admitted he'd set "incredibly aggressive goals" for the company in 2018. He continued: "Going forward, we are streamlining certain functions, like sales, so we can continue to speed up and scale others, like product development and engineering." The layoffs follow an exec exodus just weeks ago and the company's recent brand refresh (complete with a refined logo and wordmark). But critics are more concerned about its product, especially the free tier, which they claim lacks the perks to...
Read more

The best air conditioner

Image
By Liam McCabe This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter . When readers choose to buy Wirecutter's independently chosen editorial picks, it may earn affiliate commissions that support its work. Read the full article here . After six summers of researching, testing, and recommending window air conditioners, we've learned that quiet and affordable ACs make most people the happiest—and we think the LG LW8016ER will fit the bill in most rooms. This 8,000 Btu unit cools as efficiently and effectively as any model with an equal Btu rating, and runs at a lower volume and deeper pitch than others at this price. Little extra features like a fresh-air vent, two-axis fan blades, and a removable drain plug help set it apart, too. The LG LW8016ER is a top choice for an office or den, and some people will find it quiet enough for a bedroom, too. If our main pic...
Read more

We won't see a 'universal' vape oil cartridge anytime soon

Image
Pre-loaded cartridges of cannabis concentrate are currently among the most popular means of consumption, and for good reason. They're discreet to use and easy to handle, a far cry from the dark days of 2016 when we had to dribble hash oil or load wax into narrow-mouthed vape pens by hand. But, frustratingly, an ever increasing number of oil cartridge manufacturers employ one-off design standards so that their products won't work with those of their competitors, thereby locking customers into proprietary ecosystems. We've already seen this with nicotine vaporizers -- which has a seen a massive rise in "pod systems" in the last few years, each outfitted with a unique canister and battery built to be incompatible with those of their competition. Is it too late for the burgeoning cannabis industry to set a universal standard for their product designs? ...
Read more