Commission of inquiry subpoena Google, Facebook, Twitter and Reddit to testify

The platforms have their arms twisted. The parliamentary commission responsible for shedding light on the assault on the Capitol announced Thursday assigned four social networks to testify in their investigation. Alphabet (parent company of YouTube), Meta (that of Facebook), Reddit and Twitter are targeted by these court orders.

The commission, whose role is to establish the responsibility of Donald Trump and his entourage in the assault on Congress by his supporters, said the requests were launched after “insufficient responses” from the four groups to previous requests. collaboration.

Two questions are of particular interest to investigators: how the spread of false information contributed to this attack and what measures – if any – social networks took to prevent their platforms from becoming breeding grounds for radicalization. “It is disappointing that after months of work, we still do not have the documents and information necessary to answer these fundamental questions,” lamented the chairman of the committee, Democrat Bennie Thompson.

Private messages scanned

Twitter, formerly the former president’s favorite social network, is of interest to the committee because of communications between subscribers “concerning the planning and execution of the assault on Capitol Hill” which allegedly took place on the platform. The social network, say the investigators, would have been warned of the risk of violence before January 6.

YouTube is targeted because of the videos that the demonstrators would have broadcast live on the platform during the assault. “We cannot allow our important work to be further delayed,” insisted elected representative Bennie Thompson, urging social networks to cooperate.

It is urgent: the committee wishes at all costs to publish its conclusions before the midterm elections, in November 2022. If the Democrats lose control of the House during the ballot, it risks being dissolved by the Republicans.