House January 6 panel subpoenas social media companies after "inadequate responses"

The House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S Capitol is demanding four social media companies turn over internal records as it examines the spread of misinformation online and how violent extremists used social platforms to organize efforts to overthrow the 2020 election.

The committee sent subpoenas to Twitter, Reddit, Alphabet, which owns Google and YouTube, and Meta, formerly known as Facebook, to immediately produce documents related to their investigation after "inadequate responses" to prior requests.

"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," select committee chair Bennie Thompson said 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.