Capitol riot committee demands 15 social media companies hand over records related to spread of violence and misinformation

A day after issuing subpoenas for a massive trove of documents from several federal agencies, including the White House, the House Select Committee investigating the 6 January attack on the US Capitol has demanded records from 15 social media companies.

The requests call for documents “related to the spread of misinformation, efforts to overturn the 2020 election or prevent the certification of the results, domestic violent extremism, and foreign influence in the 2020 election” across their platforms.

Letters were sent to far-right hubs 4chan, 8kun, Gab, Parler, Telegram and theDonald.win, as well as Facebook, Google, Snapchat, Tik-Tok, Twitter, Reddit, Twitch, YouTube and Zello.

The committee imposed a two-week deadline for information.

Letters request internal reports on mis- and disinformation on their respective platforms related to the 2020 presidential election, as well as efforts to overturn or interfere with the certification of votes, the presence of QAnon groups and violent extremists on their platforms, and “foreign malign influence” to influence elections.

The committee also requests “all accounts, users, groups, events, messaging forums, marketplaces, posts, or other user-generated content that was sanctioned, suspended, removed, throttled, deprioritized, labeled, suppressed, or banned” for their connection to those efforts.

It also asking for platform policy changes adopted or “failed to adopt” to protect against the spread of mis- and disinformation and violence across the platforms, including “decisions on banning material from platforms and contacts with law enforcement and other government entities,” among more than a dozen other information requests, including correspondence with law enforcement.

The letters follows the first wave of notices to eight government agencies includes White House offices, the departments of Defense and Homeland Security as well as the Justice Department, FBI and intelligence agencies.

A letter to the National Archives and Records Administration calls for White House records and communications from more than 30 members of the Trump administration, cabinet officials and his family, including call logs, phone records, meeting memos and White House visitor records.

The House Select Committee, chaired by US Rep Bennie Thompson, formed in the wake of congressional Republicans’ near-universal opposition to a bipartisan committee to investigate the attack. Two Republicans – Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, both prominent critics of Mr Trump and his allies – serve on the committee.

Mr Trump responded to a subpoena targeting his White House records by claiming “executive privilege will be defended,” he said in a statement on Wednesday.