International

In a blog post released Friday afternoon, Twitter Inc. TWTR, -1.58% provided updated information on the use of its platform by a Russian government-linked group to spread misinformation during the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Twitter said that it would email more than 677,000 U.S. users of its social-media platform to inform them that they had interacted with accounts now linked to the Internet Research Agency. Twitter said it had identified 3,814 accounts--1,062 more than previously reported--linked to the IRA that sent more than 175,000 tweets in the ten weeks leading up to the election. In addition, Twitter said it had identified more than 50,000 automated accounts used to spread the information. "Any such activity represents a challenge to democratic societies everywhere, and we're committed to continuing to work on this important issue," the company said. Twitter said it would improve machine-learning capabilities to detect and deal with such accounts, limit some abilities within Tweetdeck and on Twitter's API to combat the spread of misinformation, and work with politicians to ensure more trustworthy information in this year's mid-term elections. Twitter stock fell about 0.3% in after-hours trading.