The Scoop
The Republican-led House Committee on Homeland Security is probing a handful of social media companies following reports that Charlie Kirk’s alleged killer spent large swaths of time online and confessed the attack to friends on Discord, the committee exclusively told Semafor.
In identical letters sent Monday to the CEOs of Discord, Twitch, Reddit, and to the chief operating officer of Microsoft-owned GitHub — copies of which were viewed by Semafor — the committee asked for documents and explanations for how they monitor and flag extremist content, share threats with law enforcement, and audit their platforms for vulnerabilities.
Communications platforms, “while serving as essential tools for legitimate privacy and free expression, have also been exploited to further extremist agendas,” wrote cosigners Reps. Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., and August Pfluger, R-Texas, who chair the Homeland Security Committee and intelligence subcommittee, respectively. Two House Democrats were also copied on the letters.
The inquiry challenges the extent to which social media companies are responsible when users engage with and confess to violence online. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act shields platforms from liability for what users post, leaving victims and their families with limited legal footing against them. Instead, pressure for companies to boost moderation efforts and report suspicious content has largely risen from Congress and the public.
“Lone wolf actors inspired by content shared online by extremist groups, often espousing radical ideologies, present significant challenges for law enforcement agencies, particularly as digital platforms can provide a hidden breeding ground for encouraging and coordinating acts of violence,” Garbarino said in an emailed statement to Semafor. “The public and private sectors must work together to remain vigilant in this evolving threat landscape.”
Know More
The letters are part of a wave of congressional scrutiny of social media companies since Kirk’s assassination. Last week, a separate House committee asked the CEOs of Discord, Twitch, Reddit, and video game platform Steam to testify about online radicalization in October.
In the letters to the executives sent Monday, the lawmakers said they want to “better understand what is already being done, and what more can still be done” to prevent ideologically driven attacks from being planned online.
A Discord spokesperson told Semafor, “We have received the Committee’s invitation and welcome the opportunity to testify. We continuously engage with policymakers on these critical issues and look forward to continuing this important dialogue next month.”
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said friends thought the alleged shooter had been radicalized by “that deep, dark internet” and “Reddit culture,” but a Reddit spokesperson told Semafor the company hasn’t found any evidence he had a Reddit account.
Twitch and GitHub did not respond to requests for comment.
Step Back
In recent years, tech platforms have increasingly been tied to acts of violent extremism. The 18-year-old shooter who attacked Black customers at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket in 2022 used Reddit and Discord to plan his movements and then livestreamed a portion on Twitch. The American man who killed 14 people in New Orleans in January posted on Facebook in support of ISIS hours before the attack, also linking his actions to the group’s ideology. That same month, a 17-year-old fired 10 shots in the cafeteria of Antioch High School in Tennessee, and police said the shooter was “significantly influenced by web-based material.”
Tech companies have also had a role in stopping potential shootings. In 2021, Discord helped thwart an attack on an Ohio synagogue after reporting threats by the would-be assailant to law enforcement.
Rachyl’s view
There is little action that could be forced upon these platforms with today’s Section 230 protections for third-party content, but there is growing Republican support for reforming, or even repealing, the law. The act of political violence against the right-wing activist Kirk — by an individual reported to have been heavily motivated online — could push additional lawmakers to consider reviewing Section 230 as it stands.
Room for Disagreement
Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr defended social media platforms in the wake of Kirk’s death, telling Politico the government should not crack down on platforms because violent extremism is “a relatively small category of speech” and that there are “existing laws on the books that deal with that.” Section 230 would also be legally and politically difficult to change, and previous reform attempts have fallen flat.
Notable
- Political violence has existed in the US for decades, but social media has exacerbated it, Cox, a Republican, told the BBC in an interview. “I believe that social media has played a direct role in every single assassination and assassination attempt that we have seen over the last five, six years,” he said. “Cancer” isn’t strong enough to describe what it has done to America, the governor said.