Capitol riot panel subpoenas major tech companies

WASHINGTON — Months after requesting documents from more than a dozen social platforms, the House committee investigating the Capitol insurrection has issued subpoenas targeting Twitter, Meta, Reddit and YouTube after lawmakers said the companies’ initial responses were inadequate.

The committee chair, Rep. Bennie Thompson, demanded records Thursday from the companies relating to their role in allegedly spreading misinformation about the 2020 election and promoting violent extremism on their platforms in the lead-up to the insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021.

“Two key questions for the Select Committee are how the spread of misinformation and violent extremism contributed to the violent attack on our democracy, and what steps — if any — social media companies took to prevent their platforms from being breeding grounds for radicalizing people to violence,” Thompson, D-Miss., said in the letter. Thompson added that it’s “disappointing that after months of engagement,” the four companies have not voluntarily turned over the necessary information and documents that would help lawmakers answer the questions at the heart of their investigation.

In his letter, Thompson outlined the way the companies were complicit in the deadly insurrection perpetrated by supporters of Donald Trump and far-right groups. YouTube, owned by Alphabet, was the platform where a significant amount of communication took place “relevant to the planning and execution” of the siege against the Capitol, “including livestreams of the attack as it was taking place,” the letter stated. A YouTube spokesperson said it is “actively cooperating” with the committee and is committed to stopping content that incites violence or undermines faith in elections. Meta said it too was working with the committee to get lawmakers the information they requested. A spokesperson for Reddit said the company had received the subpoena and “will continue to work with the committee on their requests.” A spokesperson for Twitter declined to comment on the subpoenas.

The committee made its initial request for the documents from 15 social media companies in August, which also included TikTok, Parler, Telegram, 4chan and 8kun.

The subpoenas come as the nine-member committee continues its widereaching investigation into how a mob was able to infiltrate the Capitol and disrupt the certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential victory, in what was the most serious assault on Congress in two centuries.