A few months after asking for documents on more than a dozen social media platforms, a House committee investigating the uprising at the beUS Capitol released subpoena targeted on Twitter, Meta, Reddit and YouTube after lawmakers said initial companies' responses were insufficient.
Committee Chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson, wants records Thursday in companies about their role in disseminating false information about the 2020 elections and promoting the escalation of domestic violence on their premises before the January 6, 2021 coup.
"The two most important questions of the Select Committee are how the spread of inaccurate information and violent extremism has contributed to the violent attacks on our democracy, and what steps - if any - have been taken by the media to prevent their forums from becoming a forum for incitement to violence," said Thompson, D-Miss. , says the book.
Thompson added that it was "disappointing that after months of collaboration," the four companies had not voluntarily translated the required information and documents to help lawmakers answer the questions at the heart of their investigation.
In his letter, Thompson recounted how companies had participated in the deadly protests by Donald Trump supporters and far-right groups.
YouTube, owned by Alphabet, has been the forum on which major communications have taken place "in line with the planning and implementation" of the Capitol siege, "including live attacks as they occur," the letter said.
In a statement sent to the Associated Press, a YouTube spokesman said he was "very cooperative" with the committee and was committed to stopping content that creates violence or undermines trust in elections.
"We have implemented these policies until January 6 and we continue to do so today," the spokesman wrote.
The committee also noted that Meta, formerly known as Facebook, was reportedly used to exchange hateful, violent and provocative messages among users and to spread the lie that the 2020 presidential election was rigged in a bid to unite the "Stop the Steal" party. .
In response Meta said it was also working with the committee to get the legislators the information they had requested.
On Reddit, the r / The_Donald "subreddit" community grew significantly, the letter said, before members moved to an official website where investigators believed talks about an attack plan had been held. A Reddit spokesman said on Thursday the company had received a summons and would "continue to work with the committee on their requests."
The letter also elaborated on how Twitter was warned of potential violence on its platform before the attack and how its users engage in "social media that exacerbates allegations of electoral fraud, including the former President himself."
One tweet from Trump on December 19, 2020 highlighted: "Statistically you are unlikely to lose the 2020 Election" as he urged supporters to come to Washington to join the "unusual" protest on January 6, 2021.
A Twitter spokesman declined to comment on the complaints.
The committee made its first documentary request to 15 social media companies in August, including TikTok, Parler, Telegram, 4chan, and 8kun.
The complaints come as the nine-member committee continues its comprehensive investigation into how the mob managed to break into the Capitol and thwarted the issuance of a certificate of victory for Democrat president Joe Biden, in the worst attack by Congress in two centuries.
A committee of seven Democrats and two Republicans interviewed more than 340 people and issued a series of complaints to members of Trump's inner circle, including his former chief of staff, and requests to colleagues in the House.
On Wednesday, the committee called for an interview with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.
McCarthy and GOP Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania denied a committee request to sit down to discuss or respond to documents related to their conversations on January 6, 2021, and Trump or those close to him as hundreds of his supporters beat up police, stormed the building and disrupted the 2020 election.