The House Homeland Security Committee today issued a subpoena to force the owner of fringe social network 8chan, which has been linked to mass shootings, to testify at a deposition next month on any efforts his platform has made to combat racist and violent content.
Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and the committee's ranking member, Mike Rogers (R-Ala.
), demanded owner Jim Watkins appear before the panel on Sept. 5.Watkins' site, known as a haven for white nationalists and conspiracy theorists, has garnered mainstream attention of late after playing host to at least three manifestos this year tied to mass shootings. Most recently, the accused gunman in the Aug. 3 El Paso shooting that left 22 dead may have written an incendiary manifesto posted on 8chan prior to the attack.
"We have questions on what is being done to counter this trend so we can be sure it is being properly addressed," Thompson and Rogers said in a statement. "Receiving testimony from Mr. Watkins is critical to our oversight on this matter.”
8chan is currently offline as web hosting service providers have pulled support for it, though Watkins claimed in a YouTube video posted over the weekend that he'd voluntarily taken it down pending discussions with federal officials. In a separate video last week, he contended the latest screed “was not uploaded” by the El Paso shooter, but said he didn't know if the suspect penned it.
An 8chan representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Article originally published on POLITICO Magazine