Russian MP Calls Google, Facebook, Twitter Testimony in US Congress a Victory

A Russian Parliament member has explained why the tech giants' testimonies under Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller's probe into Russia's alleged meddling in the 2016 US election was important.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Anton Morozov, a member of the Russian State Duma's International Affairs Committee has stated that Twitter, Facebook and Google handed a victory over to both Russia and the diplomatic community.

"The fact that they have finally acknowledged that they had no clear proof is a great victory for Russia and the diplomatic community, which have been continuously explaining that [the claims of meddling] cannot be true. … Russia never interferes in other states' affairs," Morozov said, adding that the allegations were initially politicized.

Morozov has explained that cyberspace is difficult to monitor, thereby providing numerous opportunities for manipulation.

The Russian lawmaker's statement comes a day after a US Senate hearing on Russia's alleged interference in the US election, a claim repeatedly denied by Moscow. According to Facebook and Google's testimonies, they were unable to specify that RT advertisements had violated accounts on their platforms. Twitter has spoken about a number of Russia-linked accounts concerning the election, admitting, however, that they amounted to one-hundredth of one percent of all Twitter accounts in the period from September-November 2016.

READ MORE: Google, Facebook Find No Violations by RT’s Ads of Their Accounts

According to the Russian Embassy in the US, the tech giants' testimonies confirm the absence proof of Russia's alleged interference in last year's US election.

Pressure on RT Broadcaster

On October 26, Twitter announced its decision to off-board advertising from all the accounts owned by RT and Sputnik due to the ongoing investigation over their alleged role in the 2016 US presidential election. Sputnik had immediately refuted the claims saying it had never paid for advertising on Twitter.

READ MORE: Moscow: RT, Sputnik Ban by Twitter Reflects Its Dependance on US Security Bodies

RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan has responded to the move by saying that the broadcaster had spent immeasurably less money on Twitter ads during the US election race than all the US presidential candidates had spent during the entirety of their campaigns. According to her, RT has spent $275,000 in total, while each presidential nominee has spent around $1 billion, with the most expensive tweet worth $12,000 purchased not by Donald Trump, but by then-presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders.

READ MORE: RT Spent Less on Twitter Ads Than US Presidential Campaigns' Costs — Simonyan

The broadcaster has also released an advertising campaign offer given to RT by Twitter during the US election worth several million dollars, a proposal eventually rejected by the media outlet.

READ MORE: Full Disclosure: Read Twitter's Complete Ad Pitch to RT Ahead of 2016 Election

In the wake of the pressure on national media in the US amid the probe into the Moscow's alleged meddling in the 2016 presidential election, the Russian Upper House had earlier recommended the country's media outlets refrain from placing ads on Twitter due to all these events.