san francisco twitter inc thursday accuse russian media outlets russia today rt sputnik interfere 2016 u.s. election ban buy ads network criticism social network do enough deter international meddle rt sputnik condemn decision say twitter encourage ad spend sales tactics russia foreign ministry say ban due u.s. government pressure plan retaliate san francisco-based twitter say unsigned statement website election meddle something want social network cite report year u.s. intelligence agencies say also do investigations rt sputnik come decision lightly take step part ongoing commitment help protect integrity user experience twitter company say twitter facebook inc alphabet inc google recently detect suspect russian operatives use platforms last year purchase ads post content politically divisive russia deny interfere election twitter say would take estimate 1.9 million earn rt global advertise since 2011 donate money support external research use twitter civic engagement elections company say would allow rt sputnik maintain regular non-ad twitter account accordance rule rt english-language news channel accuse twitter sales staff pressure spend big advertise 2016 ahead election money rt spend big reach american voters twitter would provide rt say describe twitter sales pitch say never pursue agenda influence u.s. election platforms include twitter twitter decline comment discussions advertisers former twitter employee say sales pitch rt similar company use lure advertisers twitter struggle turn profit thursday twitter say may become profitable first time next quarter slash expense ramp deal sell data company could help break reliance advertise revenue facebook google immediately respond question whether would limit russia media ad spend april reuters report rt sputnik part plan russian president vladimir putin swing u.s. presidential election donald trump undermine voters faith american electoral system accord three current four former u.s. officials oct. 19 u.s. lawmakers alarm foreign entities use internet influence last year election introduce legislation extend rule govern political advertise broadcast television radio satellite also cover social media general counsel twitter facebook google testify nov. public hear senate house intelligence committees allege russian interference 2016 u.s. election twitter wisely position able tell committees company take step address issue raise adam sharp former twitter executive tell reuters thursday russian foreign ministry say ban gross violation unite state guarantee free speech retaliatory measure naturally follow ministry spokeswoman maria zakharova say accord ria news agency sputnik news agency say website twitter move regrettable especially russia vow retaliatory measure u.s. media analysts say transparency rather ban would good approach unlike facebook twitter allow anonymous account automate account bots make service difficult police ban particular person group country bad policy part world platforms come view tool u.s. foreign policy give authoritarian regimes excuse ban speech albert gidari lawyer represent tech company say email gidari privacy director stanford law school center internet society u.s. lawmaker representative adam schiff applaud twitter move serve platform free expression require assist foreign power efforts push propaganda whether promote tweet mean schiff top democrat house intelligence committee say statement twitter ban ads two russian media outlets cite election meddle