Social media firms 💻 under scrutiny for 'Russian meddling'

US lawmakers are eyeing new rules for tech companies, citing concerns over Russia's use of social media platforms during the 2016 election.

The current approach is "not working", Republican Senator Lindsay Graham said. He spoke as attorneys from Facebook, Twitter and Google appeared at a Senate panel on extremist content and Russia disinformation in Washington. 

A day earlier Facebook said as many as 126m US users may have seen Russia-backed content over the last two years. "We know bad actors aren't going to stop their efforts," said Colin Stretch, general counsel at Facebook. "We'll have to keep learning and improving to stay ahead of them." 
The tech companies want to fend off new rules.

They said they are increasing efforts to identify bots and spam, as well as make political advertising more transparent. 
Facebook, for example, said it expects to have 20,000 people working on "safety and security" by the end of 2018 - double the current number.

But senators kept the firms on the defensive during the hearing on Tuesday, the first of two days of questioning from lawmakers on Capitol Hill. 

"I do appreciate these efforts, but I don't think it's enough," said Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota.

Klobuchar has proposed legislation that she says would make social media firms subject to the same disclosure rules for political and issue pages as print, radio and television companies. 
The companies said they would work with her on the bill, but did not say they would support it.

UCJ, UNILORIN.