A House committee asked the chief executive officers of Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc. to turn over any information on Russian entities purchasing advertisements opposing fracking and fossil fuels that may have been used to manipulate U.
The request by Lamar Smith, chairman of the Committee on Science, Space and Technology, concerns what he said appears to be "a concerted effort by the Russian government" to meddle in the markets.
In letters to the companies dated Tuesday, Smith of Texas wrote that in light of Facebook’s recent disclosure that it was paid by Russians for election-related ads, it’s likely Moscow took a similar approach with energy. Twitter and Facebook run social-media platforms while Alphabet owns Google, the top search engine.
The committee is seeking information “regarding Russian entities purchasing anti-fracking or any anti-fossil fuel advertisements or promotions.” He also asked for documents and communications on “any Russian based or foreign funded entity involvement in the U. energy market detected on your social media platform" and information on the source of ads “advocating for so-called green initiatives.”
The letters from Smith follow a July 29 request he and Republican Randy Weber of Texas sent to Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin seeking an investigation into what they called “a Russian propaganda war against fossil fuels.” Weber is chairman of the Science panel’s subcommittee on energy.
They said in that letter that U. presidential candidates, European officials and the U. intelligence community have alleged that Russia and its government corporations “are funding a covert anti-fracking campaign to suppress the widespread adoption of fracking in Europe and the U.
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