U.S. lawmakers urge Meta, Alphabet to ‘prevent Russian disinformation’ ahead

U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen, Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Thom Tillis (R-NC), sent letters to Meta and Alphabet urging them to devote sufficient resources to “preventing Russian disinformation” ahead of Armenia’s June 2026 parliamentary elections, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee press office reported.

“Independent experts assess that Russia is updating its playbook from Moldova, including by using Meta platforms, to influence the results of Armenia’s democratic process,” wrote the Senators in their letter to Meta. “Prime Minister Pashinyan has noted that ‘people from Russia’ are being encouraged to support certain political parties. A respected Armenian civil society group, the Union of Informed Citizens, has identified more than a hundred pages on Meta platforms promoting manipulative content relating to the upcoming elections. The group has also noted coordinated inauthentic behavior reportedly directed by a Russian-Armenian oligarch listed by the first Trump Administration in a statutorily required report to Congress as a ‘significant senior foreign political figure [or] oligarch in the Russian Federation, as determined by their closeness to the Russian regime.’” “We hope that you will reprise and adapt efforts taken to support Moldova in defending its democracy against foreign assault but now with relevant Armenian institutions,” wrote the Senators in their letter to Alphabet. “We urge Alphabet to devote sufficient resources to counter Russian disinformation ahead of the Armenian elections.”

The Senators expressed their concerns to the companies and the recognition by the United States of the grave threat posed by Russian actors’ disinformation efforts to Armenian democracy, according to the press release.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, while Alphabet, Google’s parent company, owns YouTube.

“These elections are pivotal for determining Armenia’s future, as they are likely to determine the outcome of regional peace initiatives and connectivity projects, including the flagship Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, a key component of peace talks. No foreign power should be permitted to influence the results of Armenia’s sovereign decisions,” the senators said in the letter to Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta.