The congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, stormed the Capitol on Thursday with records from YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Reddit that detailed the use of social media in the attack.
The records could help explain how the spread of misinformation and violent extremism contributed to the violent attack on our democracy, said Rep. Bennie Thompson, chairman of the House Select January 6 Committee.
Thompson said the companies had not responded adequately to requests for information to help in its investigation of the violent attack on the Capitol a year ago by supporters of then-President Donald Trump.
The subpoenas were sent to YouTube parent Alphabet Google and Facebook parent Meta in addition to Twitter and Reddit.
Meta has produced documents to the committee on a schedule committee staff requested, and we will continue to do so, the social network titan said.
Reddit and Alphabet are working with the committee to provide the requested information, while Twitter doesn't want to comment.
The committee is looking into how the attack shut down the U.S. Congress, as well as whether Trump and his circle had any part in encouraging it.
In the Alphabet subpoena, Thompson said that YouTube had hosted significant communications that were relevant to the planning and execution of the January 6th attack, including former Trump adviser Steve Bannon.
He said Facebook had been used to share messages of hate, violence, and incitement to spread misinformation, disinformation, and conspiracy theories. A former discussion group, r The Donald, became a hub for planning and discussing the assault after its ban from Reddit, according to a subpoena to the Reddit.
The committee said Twitter had been used for planning and discussing the assault on the Capitol.
The subpoena said that Twitter had been warned about potential violence being planned.
The January 6 Committee, which has already interviewed some 300 witnesses, has issued subpoenas for several key figures and documents.