Facebook, Twitter heads testify in US

Washington, Sept. 6: Facebook and Twitter are taking steps to prevent foreign interference in the upcoming elections in the US and around the world, top executives of the two social media giants assured lawmakers during a Congressional hearing.

Chief Operating Officer of Facebook Sheryl Sandberg and Chief Executive Officer of Twitter Jack Dorsey on Wednesday testified before the US Congress during the hearing which came just two months before the midterm elections in the US. Sandberg told members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence: “We are focused on the upcoming US midterms and on elections around the world. Our efforts in recent elections show us that the investments we are making are yielding results.

Facebook is getting better at finding and “stopping our opponents” from financially motivated troll farms to sophisticated military intelligence operations, she said.

Twitter’s Dorsey told lawmakers that his company has made significant progress recently on tactical solutions like identification of many forms of manipulation intending to artificially amplify information, more transparency around who buys ads and how they are targeted, and challenging suspicious logins and account creation.

“We’re now removing over 200 per cent more accounts for violating our policies. We’re identifying and challenging 8 to 10 million suspicious accounts every week, and we're thwarting over a half million accounts from logging in to Twitter every single day,” Dorsey said.