There have not been enough steps taken in the United States to protect citizens from Russian election meddling through the use of social media, Sen. Ben Cardin, said Tuesday, following a report that Russia did not stop its activities after President Donald Trump's election and had targeted special counsel Robert Mueller.
"In January, I issued a report from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee talking about Russia's asymmetric arsenal against democracies not only here in the United States but around Europe," the Maryland Democrat told CNN's "New Day."
"What Russia is doing is interference in our system and the tragedy is that this administration is not taking steps to protect us."
Russia, he added, feels "more comfortable in supporting the Trump policies and the Trump institutions, and we need to protect ourselves from foreign interference."
Cardin noted that in Europe, action has been taken against social media platforms for disclosure, but "we have not taken adequate steps here in the United States to require social media platforms to know who they're dealing with and to make sure the public is aware where this information is coming from."
Misinformation is a tool often used by Russia, said Cardin, including against their own citizens.
Cardin also commented on the possibility of the government shutting down on Friday, saying it "makes no sense."
"The issue we are talking about is border security," he said. "Democrats and Republicans in the Senate have reached an agreement on border security that would give the president another $1.6 billion for border security but just not a wall because a wall makes no sense at all.
"If the president can't go along with that we have another way to keep government open, it's called a continuing resolution where we keep the government open."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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