WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans and Democrats credited Facebook and Twitter on Wednesday for efforts they have taken to rid their sites offoreign meddling, in a stark shift from the harsh criticism that they have leveled at the social media companies for months.
In a morning hearing with the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, lawmakers said Facebook and Twitter had recognized the problem of foreign influence on their platforms and were engaging more with Congress. The lawmakers agreed with the companies that the responsibility to root out foreign interference on social media would also require government help.
Their comments helped relieve pressure on Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer of Facebook, and Jack Dorsey, the chief executive officer of Twitter, who appeared at the hearing. Both executives came armed with conciliatory messages, acknowledging during the 2.5-hour session that they had been late to discover that foreign operatives had used their sites to spread false and divisive messages. Each outlined steps their companies have taken to root out disinformation and foreign influence campaigns, including using new tech tools to identify fake accounts and hiring thousands of content monitors.
“After the election, you were reluctant to admit there was a problem,” Senator Mark Warner, vice chairman of the committee and a Democrat of Virginia, said. “Each of you have come a long way with respect to recognizing the threat.”
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