Social Media Giants Vow to Cooperate Closely With US Authorities in Russiagate

Social media giants Twitter and Facebook have vowed to work closely with federal authorities to detect attempts of public opinion's manipulation in the United States from abroad.

"We look forward to working with the FBI Task Force to assist companies and the public in identifying foreign manipulation efforts through social media platforms," Twitter said in a statement.

The company said Russia’s alleged efforts to interfere in the electoral process "go against everything we at Twitter believe. Any activity of this kind is intolerable, and we all must do more to prevent it."

"Twitter continues to work with the Special Counsel’s Office and with Congress throughout their investigations, providing relevant information," the social networking website added.

Facebook’s global policy vice president Joel Kaplan said earlier the company had been working with the FBI, Homeland Security and the special counsel probing claims of Russia’s collusion with Donald Trump's team.

"We’re grateful the US government is now taking this aggressive action against those who abused our service and exploited the openness of our democratic process," he said.

This comes after the US Justice Department revealed that 13 Russians and three entities had been indicted for allegedly trying to tamper with the 2016 US election.

The Trump administration and top Russian officials have repeatedly refuted the allegations of collusion. Moscow has said these claims are absurd and such behavior goes counter to the principles and conduct of Russian foreign policy.