Twitter Says It Suspended Russia-Linked Accounts

WASHINGTON (AP) — Social media company Twitter said Thursday it took action to suspend about two dozen accounts that were linked to fake, Russia-tied Facebook accounts that pushed divisive issues during the 2016 presidential campaign.

The social media giant disclosed that action Thursday to the House and Senate intelligence committees, both of which are investigating Russia’s interference in the presidential election.

The company later said in a blog post that RT spent $274,100 on ads targeted to markets in the U.S. during 2016, and that it found 22 accounts corresponding to about 450 Facebook accounts.

Twitter said it also found an additional 179 related or linked accounts and took action on some of them that it found in violation of its rules.

Twitter says the ads it provided to Senate and House investigators came from three handles used by RT. Most tweets from the accounts promoted news stories.