Democratic senator tells Facebook to preserve digital evidence of Capitol revolt

Democratic senator tells Facebook to preserve digital evidence of Capitol revolt

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Sen. Mark WarnerMark Robert WarnerHillicon Valley: Facebook extends Trump suspension at least until day of inauguration | Trump deletes tweets that led to Twitter blocking | Federal judiciary likely compromised as part of the SolarWinds Warner hack says foreign opponents ‘won more’ from the Capitol rebellion than with the SolarWinds Facebook hack extends Trump’s suspension to at least Biden’s tenure MORE (D-Va.), The likely new president of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is calling on cell phone operators and social media companies to preserve content and data related to Wednesday’s pro-Trump turmoil on Capitol Hill.

Warner’s office announced on Saturday that the Democratic Senate had sent letters to CEOs of 11 companies, including AT&T, Verizon, Apple, Facebook, Google, Twitter and Parler, telling them to “immediately preserve the content and associated metadata connected to the insurrectionary attack. Wednesday against the United States Capitol. “

“The United States Capitol is now a crime scene,” wrote Warner in the letter. “The FBI and other law enforcement agencies are investigating the events of that day and trying to piece together what happened and the perpetrators involved. The prospect of litigation on behalf of the victims of the chaos is also highly likely. “

Warner told CEOs, “Message data from and to your subscribers that may have participated or helped those involved in this insurgency – and information from associated subscribers – is critical evidence to help bring these troublemakers to justice.”

Participants in Wednesday’s crowd, who saw protesters raiding the Capitol Police and looting policemen throughout the historic building, were documented by many on social media.

Platforms like Facebook and Twitter have taken steps to suspend indefinitely or permanently President TrumpDonald TrumpMcConnell discloses procedures for Trump’s second impeachment trial Trump in the Senate suggests building his own platform after Twitter ban Poll: 18 percent of Republicans support Capitol riots MOREreports after he issued statements in the middle and after the Capitol chaos that the platforms claimed they could have caused more violence.

Letters from Warner, a former telecommunications entrepreneur, came after he criticized social media companies this week, arguing that actions that platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have taken to prevent the distribution of Trump’s disputed allegations about an election “stolen” were “too late and not enough.”

“Researchers of disinformation and extremism for years have been aiming for a broader exploration of these network-based platforms,” ​​said Warner, who currently serves as vice president of the intelligence committee, said in a statement Fifth.

The police have already made dozens of arrests in the wake of Wednesday’s chaos, and FBI and Justice Department officials said on Friday that they are pooling all available resources to investigate hundreds of potential suspects.

Trump supporters used social media to discuss the possibility of violence in the days leading up to the Capitol riot, and experts say increasingly popular right-wing websites may pose an even greater risk in the future, as conspiracy theories may cause some to take violent action.

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