One consequence of a bitterly contested presidential election came into clearer focus this week: politicians aren't letting Silicon Valley off the hook.

Long accustomed to lauding technology companies as paragons of American creativity and entrepreneurship, legislators sifting through evidence of Russian election influence are turning their attention to how the freewheeling world of online speech has permeated our politics.

A bipartisan trio of senators is pushing legislation that would compel online platforms to disclose who is paying for the types of ads that populate Facebook newsfeeds, Twitter timelines and Google search results. Current election law does not apply to those ads, creating what some critics call a loophole that online ad-buyers can exploit.

“It basically is applying rules that now exist for old media onto social media”, said Stuart Brotman, a professor of media at University of Tennessee, Knoxville. “I think it’s an evolution, and I think we’re at the stage in the evolution where it probably makes sense, with the increase in political advertising that's done through social media today”.

Whether or not the bill passes - despite having a Republican cosponsor in John McCain, it still faces an uphill battle to surmount a Republican-controlled Congress and convince a president who has vehemently rejected the notion of Russian interference - it suggests that at least some members of Congress have arrived at a political tipping point.

While technology juggernauts cast themselves as apolitical purveyors of content, some policymakers have come away from the 2016 election with the conclusion that those platforms wield enormous political influence and should be regulated as such.

The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Show all 17 1 /17 The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Paul Manafort Mr Manafort is a Republican strategist and former Trump campaign manager. He resigned from that post over questions about his extensive lobbying overseas, including in Ukraine where he represented pro-Russian interests. Mr Manafort turned himself in at FBI headquarters to special counsel Robert Mueller’s team on Oct 30, 2017, after he was indicted under seal on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. Getty The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rick Gates Mr Gates joined the Trump team in spring 2016, and served as a top aide until he left to work at the Republican National Committee after the departure of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Mr Gates' had previously worked on several presidential campaigns, on international political campaigns in Europe and Africa, and had 15 years of political or financial experience with multinational firms, according to his bio. Mr Gates was indicted alongside Mr Manafort by special counsel Robert Mueller's team on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. AP The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation George Papadopoulos George Papadopoulos was a former foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, having joined around March 2016. Mr Papadopoulos plead guilty to federal charges for lying to the FBI as a part of a cooperation agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Mr Papadopoulos claimed in an interview with the FBI that he had made contacts with Russian sources before joining the Trump campaign, but he actually began working with them after joining the team. Mr Papadopoulos allegedly took a meeting with a professor in London who reportedly told him that Russians had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. The professor also allegedly introduced Mr Papadopoulos to a Russian who was said to have close ties to officials at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Papadopoulos also allegedly was in contact with a woman whom he incorrectly described in one email to others in the campaign as the "niece" to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Twitter The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Donald Trump Jr The President's eldest son met with a Russian lawyer - Natalia Veselnitskaya - on 9 June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York. He said in an initial statement that the meeting was about Russia halting adoptions of its children by US citizens. Then, he said it was regarding the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. In a final statement, Mr Trump Jr released a chain of emails that revealed he took the meeting in hopes of getting information Ms Veselnitskaya had about Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. He and the President called it standard "opposition research" in the course of campaigning and that no information came from the meeting. The meeting was set up by an intermediary, Rob Goldstone. Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort were also at the same meeting. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jared Kushner Mr Kushner is President Donald Trump's son-in-law and a key adviser to the White House. He met with a Russian banker appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in December. Mr Kushner has said he did so in his role as an adviser to Mr Trump while the bank says he did so as a private developer. Mr Kushner has also volunteered to testify in the Senate about his role helping to arrange meetings between Trump advisers and Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rob Goldstone Former tabloid journalist and now music publicist Rob Goldstone is a contact of the Trump family through the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which took place in Moscow. In June 2016, he wrote to Donald Trump Jr offering a meeting with a Russian lawyer, Natalya Veselnitskaya, who had information about Hillary Clinton. Mr Goldstone was the intermediary for Russian pop star Emin Agalaraov and his father, real estate magnate Aras, who played a role in putting on the 2013 pageant. In an email chain released by Mr Trump Jr, Mr Goldstone seemed to indicate Russian government's support of Donald Trump's campaign. AP images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Aras and Emin Agalarov Aras Agalarov (R) is a wealthy Moscow-based real estate magnate and son Emin (L) is a pop star. Both played a role in putting on the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. They allegedly had information about Hillary Clinton and offered that information to the Trump campaign through a lawyer with whom they had worked with, Natalia Veselnitskaya, and music publicist Rob Goldstone. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Natalia Veselnitskaya Natalia Veselnitskaya is a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin. She has worked on real estate issues and reportedly counted the FSB as a client in the past. She has ties to a Trump family connection, real estate magnate Aras Agalarov, who had helped set up the Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant which took place in Moscow. Ms Veselnitskaya met with Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort in Trump Tower on 9 June 2016 but denies the allegation that she went there promising information on Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. She contends that the meeting was about the US adoptions of Russian children being stopped by Moscow as a reaction to the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Mike Flynn Mr Flynn was named as Trump's national security adviser but was forced to resign from his post for inappropriate communication with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. He had misrepresented a conversation he had with Mr Kislyak to Vice President Mike Pence, telling him wrongly that he had not discussed sanctions with the Russian. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sergey Kislyak Mr Kislyak, the former longtime Russian ambassador to the US, is at the centre of the web said to connect President Donald Trump's campaign with Russia. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Roger Stone Mr Stone is a former Trump adviser who worked on the political campaigns of Richard Nixon, George HW Bush, and Ronald Reagan. Mr Stone claimed repeatedly in the final months of the campaign that he had backchannel communications with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and that he knew the group was going to dump damaging documents to the campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton - which did happen. Mr Stone also had contacts with the hacker Guccier 2.0 on Twitter, who claimed to have hacked the DNC and is linked to Russian intelligence services. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeff Sessions The US attorney general was forced to recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation after it was learned that he had lied about meeting with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Carter Page Mr Page is a former advisor to the Trump campaign and has a background working as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. Mr Page met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Mr Page had invested in oil companies connected to Russia and had admitted that US Russia sanctions had hurt his bottom line. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeffrey "JD" Gorden Mr Gordon met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republian National Convention to discuss how the US and Russia could work together to combat Islamist extremism should then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump win the election. The meeting came days before a massive leak of DNC emails that has been connected to Russia. Creative Commons The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation James Comey Mr Comey was fired from his post as head of the FBI by President Donald Trump. The timing of Mr Comey's firing raised questions around whether or not the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign may have played a role in the decision. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Preet Bharara Mr Bahara refused, alongside 46 other US district attorney's across the country, to resign once President Donald Trump took office after previous assurances from Mr Trump that he would keep his job. Mr Bahara had been heading up several investigations including one into one of President Donald Trump's favorite cable television channels Fox News. Several investigations would lead back to that district, too, including those into Mr Trump's campaign ties to Russia, and Mr Trump's assertion that Trump Tower was wiretapped on orders from his predecessor. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sally Yates Ms Yates, a former Deputy Attorney General, was running the Justice Department while President Donald Trump's pick for attorney general awaited confirmation. Ms Yates was later fired by Mr Trump from her temporary post over her refusal to implement Mr Trump's first travel ban. She had also warned the White House about potential ties former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to Russia after discovering those ties during the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign's connections to Russia. Getty Images

“I think the time has come that we are going to see an end to Internet exceptionalism where platforms can continue to claim some sort of immunity because of their nature”, said Sarah T Roberts, an assistant professor of information studies at the University of California, Los Angeles who studies online content moderation.

“It's going to be an interesting moment of seeing where the rubber hits the road in terms of…their kind of market positions as bastions of liberal ideals, and their distaste and disdain for being regulated by anyone but themselves”.

Silicon Valley vs. European tech

Online advertisements have come under intense scrutiny as Congress probes a Kremlin-directed campaign to sway American public opinion in the run-up to last year’s elections. Revelations that Russia used online channels to project its influence - including by purchasing divisive advertisements on prominent platforms - have thrown a spotlight on how tech giants like Facebook, Google and Twitter oversee paid content.

While the Russian connection has dominated headlines, the bill testifies to dynamics that preceded this presidential election and will persist through future campaigns.

Online platforms have become inextricably interwoven into all aspects of our lives, and politics is no exception. The same sites people use to communicate with friends or share links to cat videos have become dominant conduits for information. Political operations have followed voters into online spaces, increasingly looking to sway opinion not just with traditional means like mailers and television spots but with online content.

“We have all come to rely on tools like Facebook and Google to communicate with each other and get information, and at the same time there’s this wild west situation where we don't know who’s spending money to influence our votes”, said John Wonderlich, executive director of the Sunlight Foundation, which supports greater transparency and has lobbied in favour of the new bill.

A study from the advertising research firm Borrell Associates found that spending on digital advertising increased by $1.2bin last cycle - easily dwarfing the $100,000 Russian operatives were said to have spent on socially disruptive Facebook ads. Sophisticated targeting capabilities allow campaigns to spend relatively small amounts of money to float digital trial balloons, testing messages on small subgroups so they can be honed for maximum effectiveness.

“There’s great big money, and wherever there’s great big money there’s great big problems”, said Kip Cassino, an executive vice president at Borrell. “It looks like technology is pushing ahead of our ability to come up with these regulations”, he added.

If anything, Mr Cassino added, online advertising required a more sweeping response.

“Passing these laws as though advertising in the online spaces is just another form of advertising like radio, television and the other legacy advertising - its not. it’s very, very different," Mr Cassino said. “It’s so quick and has so many implications that none of the others ever had that it requires a review of its own, not just a bandaid that tries to make it like all the other forms of advertising that preceded it."

Representatives of Google, Facebook and Twitter were circumspect about their plans. Facebook and Twitter released statements pledging to work with politicians; Google declined to comment.

But lobbyists for both Facebook and Google have been actively working to shape legislation, according to Politico. According to OpenSecrets, Facebook has already spent some $5.6m on lobbying this year; Google has plunked down $9.4m. Just as they are dominant social institutions, they are also formidable political players.

Mr Wonderlich of the Sunlight Foundation said it remained uncertain where the tech companies would land on the bill. But he said that the political landscape has shifted and argued tech firms would be wise to adapt.