We will go straight into the second panel. Somewould ask monica Background Information about the Senate Intelligence investigation into russian intelligence. Some of that work has been quite insightful for us and lead to us contacting facebook and asking for similar insight to be done as to when he as to whether there was any russian activity in the u. K. I want to ask about the information that facebook has provided. Is it correct to say that all the unit all the evidence so far and the number of people that were exposed to content creation disputed by the Internet Research agency in st. Petersburg, all of that announced so far comes from the analysis facebook did identifying payments made in ruples related to advertising around that content. Monica the information we gave to the committee in testimony is the best source of information for the details about that. Didhat testimony, colin speak to how facebook conducted that investigation. Payment in rubles was one of the signals. That
Contains it is something we understand why people are concerned about it. Its one of the reasons why the Electoral Commission approached us in october of last or and said we would like you to assess about whether or not there was indeed misinformation coming from another country. And we were keen to cooperate on that. We reported some findings from an initial investigation to chair the committee. I think its fair to say we havent done enough work having reflected on that. Is we wont be able to tell you until that work is completed. We are committed to telling the committee the outcome of those results. The one thing i would say is unlike the u. S. Election, we intelligence any reports that suggests there were downright russian interference using facebook involved in the brexit referendum. Different where there is an Intelligence Report demonstrating. Obviously the referendum was about the membership of the European Union Going Forward. Countries within the eu, not the u. K. , had more
Sackur. Is the way we use words changing . Most of us probably write less tha n changing . Most of us probably write less than we used to. Read less than we used to. And spend far more time staring at screens and tapping out messages. Does it matter to our relationships, our politics, our culture . Relationships, our politics, our culture . Our guest to day in skimmed is does. Howard jacobsons meditations have won him awards, including the man booker prize. But is he an artist swimming against an irresistible cultural tide . Howard jacobson, welcome to hardtalk. Irresistible cultural tide . Howard jacobson, welcome to hardtalki irresistible cultural tide . Howard jacobson, welcome to hardtalk. I am delighted to be here. Thank you for having me on. I want to ask you to reflect on a long writing career. How long, do you think, it took to you to find your own authentic writers boys. 20 years. 20 years from finishing university, and thinking i was out in the world, and ready to write, and
Voice . 20 years. 20 years from being from finishing university, and thinking im out in the world, and now im going to write, and 20 years before i could write anything that looked to me like a book. Im tempted to ask, then, what kept you. That is what many people asked. Especially those who thought i would never be a novelist anyway. And i worried, myself, about it. My father used to say, well, where is it, then . That spurred me on. That must have annoyed you. I think my problem was that perhaps a bit over educated. I had been educated to revere the classic so much, to revere dh lawrence and tolstoy and dostoevsky and dickens. If i could be them, i didnt want to be anyone. So you wanted to be literary. Perhaps you were not confident in your own take on the world and your own voice, that it was worth listening to . Dead right. If what you had been reading was the great writers, and i revered them, and you think you do not measure up to that. At 18 and 25, i did not measure up to dosto
Im stephen sackur. Is the way we use words changing . Most of us probably write less than we used to, read less than we used to, and spend far more time staring at screens and tapping out messages. Does it matter to our relationships, our politics, our culture . Well, my guest today is conviced it does. Howard jacobsons meditations on life, love, jewishness, and a whole lot more have won him awards, including the man booker prize. But is he an artist swimming against an irresistible cultural tide . Howard jacobson, welcome to hardtalk. I am delighted to be here. Thank you for having me on. I want to ask you to reflect on a long writing career. How long, do you think, it took to you to find your own authentic writers voice . 20 years. 20 years from being from finishing university, and thinking im out in the world, and now im going to write, and 20 years before i could write anything that looked to me like a book. Im tempted to ask, then, what kept you. That is what many people asked. Es