After years of threats, Congress finally unleashes subpoena power on Silicon Valley

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill for years have threatened to use their subpoena power to force tech companies, like Facebook and Google, to fork over internal documents or compel their executives to testify.

But they have rarely followed through, despite frequent frustration that companies don’t cooperate when lawmakers just ask nicely.

That changed Thursday as the House panel investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol deployed one of its most powerful tools, issuing subpoenas to demand information from Facebook parent-company Meta, Youtube parent-company Alphabet, Twitter and Reddit.

The panel said it is seeking records “relating to the spread of misinformation, efforts to overturn the 2020 election, domestic violent extremism, and foreign influence.