A new Senate Intelligence Committee report says Russia used social media throughout the 2016 US presidential election as part of the Kremlin's efforts to spread disinformation and undermine Hillary Clinton’s candidacy in support of Donald Trump. 

The Senate committee's key finding in its report, published on Tuesday, says that Russia’s Internet Research Agency “sought to influence the 2016 US presidential election by harming Hillary Clinton's chances of success and supporting Donald Trump at the direction of the Kremlin."

“Masquerading as Americans, these operatives used targeted advertisements, intentionally falsified news articles, self-generated contents, and social media platform tools to interact with and attempt to deceive tens of millions of social media users in the United States,” the report says. 

independent.co.uk