Instagram on Congressional Radar After Senate Reports on Russia Meddling
Senate Intelligence Committee reports put malicious Instagram activity on Congress’ radar, lawmakers told us this week. One finding was continued meddling by Russia’s Internet Research Agency (see 1812170036). Lawmakers said such activity isn't surprising.
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Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., told us that even with malign activity widespread, Instagram meddling was “news to me.” She will re-examine privacy legislation she introduced this Congress with Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., the Social Media Privacy Protection and Consumer Rights Act (see 1808280039). Monday’s revelations add to the urgency to pass the Honest Ads Act (see 1811020046) and the Secure Elections Act from Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., she told us: “If you think they’re not going to hack again in the next presidential [election], you’re wrong.”
“Am I surprised the Russians have been trying to meddle in U.S. elections? No. They’ve been doing it for 60 years,” Kennedy told us. Echoing colleagues, Intelligence Committee member Lankford told reporters there was “no grand surprise." Social media companies will need to manage their businesses and the threat of foreign interference, Lankford said. “Hopefully, we’re not going to need a piece of legislation telling social media companies how to do their business,” Lankford said, citing Instagram activity. “If they want a reliable platform, they’ve got to deal with that.” The information delivered to the committee wasn't the “total universe” of data available on Russian interference, the senator added.
Congress and the intelligence community are best situated to use social media data to monitor malign behavior like that of the IRA, emailed a spokesperson for Facebook, owner of Instagram. The platform continues to cooperate with the committee after providing thousands ads and pieces of content. Facebook has “made progress in helping prevent interference,” strengthened policies against voter suppression and funded “independent research on the impact of social media on democracy,” the spokesperson said.
Progress has been “excruciatingly slow,” Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., a committee member, told reporters. “We’re making baby steps.” Social media companies “down-ranking” false and fake material is one area of improvement, he said.
The reports reinforce what Congress knew, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters: Russians are actively attempting to undermine elections and democracy. “I don’t expect them to stop, and that’s why we have to do everything we can to be able to respond and retaliate against that action on behalf of the Russians.”
Platforms can't be trusted to solve these issues voluntarily, Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, told reporters. He called it an issue of leadership and how platforms view themselves. Schatz told us he and a working group of three key Senate Commerce Committee lawmakers (see 1812120036) is “inventorying” what privacy issues to work on in the coming months. That includes likely incoming Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss.; Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan.; and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. Schatz is hopeful the four can deliver a privacy bill, saying they had “constructive conversations,” but “we’re not that close to having a bill.” Blumenthal repeated he and Moran are working on a bill (see 1812070039), and Wicker and Schatz have been involved in the discussions. “We’ve been making good progress,” Blumenthal told us.
Senate Intelligence Committee member Roy Blunt, R-Mo., told us he’s glad the information on Russia’s IRA is public, and he will discuss potential hearings on the issue with Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., in 2019. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., told reporters the material is a “really good report done by outside experts.