Google said to investigate Russian meddling
Google has begun an internal probe on whether people linked to Russia used its advertising and services to influence last year’s presidential election, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Facebook and Twitter have both disclosed political ad spending and accounts affiliated with Russia, and Facebook is sharing its findings with Google, the source said. They asked not to be identified discussing a private investigation.
Congressional officials have invited all three companies to public hearings in November to discuss the role of Russia in the election.
“We will of course cooperate with inquiries,” a Google spokeswoman wrote in an email. “We’re looking into how we can help with any relevant information.”
While Google has faced less public scrutiny on the topic than Facebook, the search giant has several popular services that could be tapped to influence voters. It runs the video behemoth YouTube, and the Google Display Network places ads on millions of websites.
On Sept. 7, a day after Facebook revealed that about $100,000 in ads was connected to fake accounts on its site, Google said it had “seen no evidence this type of ad campaign” on its services.
The Wall Street Journal and Recode initially reported Google’s investigation Friday.