WASHINGTON (AP) - Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine says attempts by Russian agents to create discord on social media are not limited to presidential politics.
She said during a hearing Wednesday in Washington, D.C., that Russian-created Facebook pages have gone after Maine Republican Gov. Paul LePage.
She said two posts in 2016 attacked him with untruths, saying he “called up white people to kill blacks.” She said a different Russian-created Facebook in August of this year defended LePage’s comments about confederate monuments and criticized liberals who are “acting like terrorists.”
Collins accused Russians of playing both sides against each other and “sowing discord and division with inflammatory rhetoric.”
Facebook, Twitter and Google all pledged to do more and said they understood the seriousness of Russian meddling in U.S. politics.
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