House panel probing Jan. 6 requests records from tech giants

The select House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol sent letters to 15 websites and tech companies Friday demanding records related to the deadly insurrection.

The committee is giving the social media platforms — including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and right-leaning social network Parler — two weeks to respond to the request.

The panel “is examining the facts, circumstances, and causes of the attack and relating to the peaceful transfer of power, in order to identify and evaluate lessons learned and to recommend corrective laws, policies, procedures, rules, or regulations,” Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said in a statement.

The companies are being asked to turn over a large trove of information, including internal and external reviews of 2020 election misinformation or violent extremism, all content given to law enforcement related to those subjects and all relevant internal communications.

Other major companies being asked to turn over info include Google, Reddit, Snapchat and TikTok, while some more fringe websites such as 4chan and Gab are also being asked to supply information. Telegram, 8kun, theDonald.win and Zello round out the companies probed Friday.