Twitter bans 200 fake Russian accounts, identifies RT’s role in US elections

Facebook is also facing intense scrutiny after disclosing the details about the presence of Russian political ads worth $100,000 on its platform during US elections

As the probe into Moscow's alleged meddling in the 2016 US presidential election intensifies, Twitter announced that it has deleted over 200 fake Russian accounts and identified Russia Today of buying bought ads targeted at American users' accounts.

International News, Technology In a closed-door meeting late Thursday, Colin Crowell, Twitter's Vice President for Public Policy, met with staff from Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence to discuss the issue.

"This is an ongoing process and we will continue to collaborate with investigators. Twitter is in dialogue with congressional committees with respect to investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 US election," the micro-blogging platform said in a blog post.

Twitter also shared with committee staff ads that three Russia Today (RT) accounts targeted to the US market in 2016.

"Based on our findings thus far, RT spent $274,100 in US ads in 2016. In that year, the three RT accounts promoted 1,823 tweets that definitely or potentially targeted the US market," Twitter said.

These campaigns were directed at followers of mainstream media and primarily promoted RT Tweets regarding news stories.

"Due to the nature of these inquiries, we may not always be able to publicly share what we discuss with investigators.

"We know there is a huge appetite for more transparency into how Twitter fights bots and manipulative networks," the post said.

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