Facebook asked to retain digital evidence from riot at Capitol

One of Big Tech’s prominent critics in Washington called on telecom and social media companies to preserve digital evidence from this week’s pro-trump riots on the U.S. Capitol, which left five people dead.

U. S. Sen. Mark Warner, D-VA., wrote to Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg and asked him to “undertake reasonable measures” to retain any content linked to the attacks that may be needed for future legal action.

“The texts, videos and pictures posted to your platforms — and associated meta- data, cloud backups and subscriber information — are critical evidence in helping to bring these rioters to justice,” Warner wrote in a letter dated Friday. “The United States Capitol is now a crime scene.”

Warner, the incoming chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, earlier described Twitter Inc.’s decision to ban President Donald Trump as “an overdue step.” Facebook already has blocked Trump on its platforms at least until the end of his term.

Separately, the Office of the House Sergeant at Arms on Saturday called on members of Congress and staff to provide Capitol Police with any digital evidence they have from Wednesday’s violent scenes, when a mob stormed the building and disrupted Congress’ count of Electoral College votes.

That includes video and photos, according to a memo. The recipients also were encouraged to report any other crimes, including theft or destruction, as soon as possible.

T he Depa r tment of Justice on Sat urday a nnounced that three men who allegedly took pa r t in t he r iot s at t he U. S. Capitol had been arrested, including a F lor ida man photo - g raphed c a r r y in g t he House Spea ker ’ s lec ter n while smiling and wav ing.