CNN reports Twitter failed to remove hundreds of Russian propaganda videos with millions of views from Vine, its 6-second-video platform, until notified by the news network this week.
The videos, created by the Kremlin-linked Internet Research Agency, should have been taken down along with their associated Twitter accounts months ago.
The discovery raises new questions about the nature of the company's effort to find and remove content produced by Russians trying to meddle in American politics, and how comprehensive it has been.
The accounts and videos were removed only after CNN brought them to Twitter's attention on Wednesday. Twitter did not comment as to why it removed the accounts or why they had been allowed to remain live for so long.
(...)
Last fall, Twitter provided Congress with a list of 2,752 accounts that it said were linked to the Internet Research Agency, a troll group based in St Petersburg, Russia, with ties to the Kremlin.
Among the accounts Twitter gave Congress were @GUNS4LIFE_ME and @PoliceStateMe. Both Twitter accounts were suspended, but their associated Vine accounts, @GUNS4LIFE and @PoliceState, were still live as of Wednesday morning.
(...)
The Police State Vine account posted more than 600 videos showing incidents of alleged police misconduct in the United States. The account began posting in September 2015 and stopped suddenly in August 2016. 25,000 accounts subscribed to the account's feed, and its videos were "looped" more than 6 million times.
(...)
Another account, GUNS4LIFE, posted more than 600 videos that were looped more than 8 million times. That account also appeared to be active from September 2015 before stopping suddenly in August 2016.
Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has been outspoken about his frustration with the tech companies' lack of accountability and action – especially Twitter's.
"Twitter shouldn't wait for Congress or anybody else to send a 'to-do' list with specific accounts to delete," Warner said in a statement given to CNN. "The company needs to take responsibility and be proactive about stopping Russians and other bad actors who are abusing its platform."
Senator Warner also said he is far from done investigating the role each platform played in boosting Russian disinformation and propaganda during the 2016 election.
The Democratic vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee has been the leading lawmaker pressing Facebook Inc., Twitter Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google to search their archives for evidence of Russian interference and collusion, and to harden their networks against a continuing effort to interfere in elections in the U.S. and its allies.
He said Thursday he’s not yet satisfied.
“That’s something that we’re working through,” said Warner of Virginia. “I see this as election security first, then next steps around social media, and ultimately we’ll still have to get to the questions around potential collusion,” he said in an interview at the Capitol.
Warner said he wants to talk to Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr about plans for social media companies, and he hopes to have something to announce as soon as next week.
Twitter failed to remove hundreds of Russian propaganda videos aimed at Americans (CNN)
Warner Wants Russia Probe to Delve Deeper With Tech Companies (Bloomberg Politics)