MOSCOW, September 9. /TASS/. Silicon Valley tech giants, Google and Facebook flagrantly violated Russia’s electoral legislation by posting political advertisements of some candidates during the blackout period for campaigning and on election day on September 8 in Russia, First Deputy Head of the United Russia faction Andrei Isayev told reporters.
“Major information resources, such as Facebook and Google, have brazenly violated Russia’s electoral legislation by posting open appeals to vote for some candidates and lists during the pre-election silence period and even on election day,” said Isayev, who is also a member of the State Duma Commission on Investigating Foreign Interference in Russia’s Internal Affairs.
“We will certainly deal with this situation. We plan on summoning representatives of these organizations so that they appear at the commission’s proceedings on [Investigating Foreign Interference in Russia’s Internal Affairs.]
Earlier, the commission’s chair Vasily Piskarev said he and his colleagues would thoroughly analyze the facts indicating Google and Facebook had meddled in Russia’s elections, which were provided by the Central Election Commission and Russia’s telecom and media watchdog. In response to the accusations, Google said the company favored “responsible political advertising.” In its turn, Facebook said the advertisers were the ones responsible for complying with Russia’s electoral legislation.