Facebook, Twitter, Google execs testify before senate committee on Russian interference

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Executives from Facebook, Twitter, and Google had a lot of explaining to do Tuesday before a U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee looking into the social media's role in Russian interference in the 2016 election.

The extent of how the online platforms were used to spread misinformation during the campaign goes beyond what the Silicon Valley companies revealed before. Facebook says false and inflammatory information from Russia reached at least 126-million users, more than 131,000 Russia-linked messages were tweeted on Twitter and over 1,000 videos were uploaded on Google's YouTube.

Senator Dianne Feinstein called it "quite frankly frightening, and another Senator said it is "deeply disturbing."

The social media companies say they are putting new restrictions in place including hiring more ad reviewers, but some in Congress are not satisfied, and want strict regulations.