Facebook, Twitter, Google Invited for Nov. 1 Senate Hearing

Executives from Facebook Inc., Twitter Inc. and Google Inc. have been invited to appear at a public hearing of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Nov. 1 to discuss Russia’s use of social media to influence the U.S. election, according to a Senate aide.

Committee Chairman Richard Burr, a North Carolina Republican, has said he wants a full accounting from Facebook, which disclosed in September that Russians appeared to have bought about $100,000 in election-related ads last year.

Separately, the House Intelligence Committee, which is conducting its own probe into Russian meddling in the election, announced Wednesday that it will hold an open hearing with unidentified technology companies in the next month.

The House panel’s statement said it was seeking "to better understand how Russia used online tools and platforms to sow discord in and influence our election."

Lawmakers are concerned not just with the last year’s activities but with preventing efforts to target future elections. Some Democrats have called for social-media companies to face disclosure requirements for political advertising.

Special counsel Robert Mueller has also made Facebook a focus of his investigation into collusion between the Russian government and Donald Trump’s campaign. Officials from Twitter are set to meet behind closed doors Thursday with Senate Intelligence investigators. Google is a unit of Alphabet Inc.