WASHINGTON – Social networking site Twitter Inc on Saturday suspended twoaccounts linked to 12 Russian spies indicted by Special Counsel RobertMueller for interfering in the 2016 US presidential election. On Friday, afederal grand jury charged the 12 Russian intelligence officers withhacking Democratic computer networks in 2016 in the most detailed USaccusation yet that Moscow meddled in the election to help RepublicanDonald Trump.
Twitter said on Saturday it had suspended the accounts @DCLeaks_ and@Guccifer_2 that were named in the indictment, which alleges a wide-rangingconspiracy involving sophisticated hacking and staged release of documents.
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12 Russian spies indicted in 2016 election hacking
A federal grand jury on Friday indicted 12 Russian military intelligenceofficers on charges of hacking the computer networks of 2016 Democraticpresidential candidate Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party, theJustice Department said. Colette Luke has more.ADVERTISEMENT
The indictment alleges that from around June 2016 the conspirators releasedtens of thousands of stolen emails and documents “using fictitious onlinepersonas, including ‘DCLeaks’ and ‘Guccifer 2.0.’.”
In a statement on Saturday, a Twitter spokesman said: “The accounts havebeen suspended for being connected to a network of accounts previouslysuspended for operating in violation of our rules.”
Twitter in recent months has purged suspicious user accounts in a bid toprevent the dissemination of fake news and “encourage healthyconversation,” the company said this month.