House panel issues subpoena to compel testimony from 8chan owner
The House Homeland Security Committee issued a subpoena to force the owner of fringe online message board 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 Republican, Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama, 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, Texas, shooting that left 22 dead has been linked to an incendiary manifesto posted on 8chan before 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.”
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/08/14/8chan-house-panel-subpoena-1463606