By: EFE
WASHINGTON – The Lower House committee investigating the assault on the Capitol of January 6, 2021 issued several summonses this Thursday to force the delivery of documents to technology companies Alphabet, which includes YouTube, Meta, which manages Facebook, Twitter and Reddi
The president of that commission, Democrat Bennie Thompson, explained in a statement that they have adopted this measure before “ the inadequate response” of these companies when they were asked for information about disinformation and the efforts to revoke the presidential elections of 2020 in the USA
“We cannot allow our work to be delayed any longer”, warned Thompson, who explained that for the committee he heads there are two “key issues ”.
One of them is how the disinformation and violent extremism contributed to the assault on the headquarters of Congress, while the other is what measures these firms adopted to prevent their platforms from serving as a breeding ground to radicalize people and incite violence.
On January 6, 2021 a mob of supporters of former President Donald Trump (2017-2021) burst into the Capitol when a joint session of the chambers was being held to ratify the victory of the Democrat and now president, Joe Biden, in the previous November elections.
Shortly before, Trump delivered an incendiary speech from the White House, where he encouraged his supporters to march to the Capitol amid his unfounded accusations that the Democrats they committed electoral fraud in that vote.
Thompson explained that they have issued subpoenas to obtain documents from those companies because, in the case of Alphabet, their social network Youtube was “relevant ” to plan and execute the assault on the Capitol, which included live broadcasts of the attack.
Regarding Facebook and Instagram, property of Meta, were used to share messages of “hate, violence and incitement”; spread misinformation and conspiracy theories about the election and coordinate the Stop the Steal movement launched by Trump supporters to reverse the election result, the committee said.
In In parallel, he added, Twitter and Reddit users used those social networks to plan and carry out the assault on the Capitol.
These citations coincide with the arrest and indictment this Thursday of the leader of the American far-right formation Oath Keepers (the Guardians of the Oath), Elmer Stewart Rhodes III,
The Oath Keepers are a loose organization linked to citizen militias and, although they accept anyone as a member, focuses its recruitment tasks on ex-military, police and first aid personnel.
In addition to their leader, ten other members of the Oath Keepers were also charged with sedition , residing in various parts of the country, from Arizona to Ohio.
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