The House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol has issued subpoenas to major social media companies, seeking records related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election, as well as the spread of misinformation, domestic violent extremism and foreign influence in the election.

What You Need To Know

  • The House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot issued subpoenas to major social media companies Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp, Alphabet, the parent company of Google and Youtube, Twitter and Reddit

  • The panel is seeking records related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election, as well as the spread of misinformation, domestic violent extremism and foreign influence in the election

  • Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, the panel's chairman, said that the companies provided "inadequate responses" to previous requests for information

  • “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," Rep. Thompson wrote in a statement

The panel issued subpoenas to Alphabet, the parent company of Google and YouTube, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Reddit and Twitter, saying that the companies provided "inadequate responses" to previous requests for information.

“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," Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, the panel's chairman, wrote in a statement. "It’s disappointing that after months of engagement, we still do not have the documents and information necessary to answer those basic questions. 

"The Select Committee is working to get answers for the American people and help ensure nothing like January 6th ever happens again," Thompson added. "We cannot allow our important work to be delayed any further.”

In Thompson's statement, he breaks down the ways the panel alleges that each social media company was complicit in the Jan. 6 insurrection.

"YouTube was a platform for significant communications by its users that were relevant to the planning and execution of January 6th attack on the United States Capitol, including livestreams of the attack as it was taking place," Thompson wrote.

"Meta platforms were reportedly used to share messages of hatred, violence, and incitement; to spread misinformation, disinformation, and conspiracy theories around the election; and to coordinate or attempt to coordinate the Stop the Steal movement," he added. "Public accounts about Facebook’s Civic Integrity Team indicate that Facebook has documents that are critical to the Select Committee’s investigation."

On Reddit, Thompson cited a community called "r/The_Donald," which he said "grew significantly" and later migrated to another website, which "ultimately hosted significant discussion and planning related to the January 6th attack."

"Twitter subscribers reportedly used the platform for communications regarding the planning and execution of the assault on the United States Capitol, and Twitter was reportedly warned about potential violence being planned on the site in advance of January 6th," Thompson wrote. Twitter users also engaged in communications amplifying allegations of election fraud, including by the former President himself."