Senator Mark Warner (D-Virginia), incoming chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is asking mobile service providers and social media platforms to preserve ‘content and associated metadata’ related to the attack on the U.S. Capitol. Warner said in a statement on Saturday that he had contacted the CEOs of AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, Apple, Facebook, Gab, Google, Parler, Signal, Telegram and Twitter.
“The American Capitol is now a crime scene,” Warner wrote in his letters. ‘The FBI and other law enforcement agencies are currently investigating the events of that day and trying to put together what happened and those involved. The possibility of lawsuits on behalf of the victims of the chaos is also very likely. Message data from and to your subscribers who may have participated in, or assisted, those involved in this uprising – and associated subscriber information – is important evidence to bring these rioters to justice. ”
Warner noted that many of those who took part in the January 6 attack in which five people were killed posted images on social media, or shared them via SMS and mobile messaging platforms while the riot was going on and after, ‘ to celebrate their contempt for our democratic process. ”
All the mentioned companies regularly comply with court confirmation orders issued during criminal investigations. But Warner’s letter is an informal request, without the legal force of a criminal custody order, and it is unclear how the companies will respond. Preservation orders issued by the court are often issued under seal. It is also possible that one of the many agencies investigating the Capitol raid has already issued such an order.
We have contacted the companies to ask how and if they intend to comply with Warner’s request, and we will keep it informed when we hear about it. A Facebook spokesman said in an email to The edge that the company ‘continues our ongoing, proactive outreach to law enforcement and has worked to provide prompt responses to valid legal requests. We remove content, disable accounts, and work with law enforcement to protect against immediate threats to public safety. ”
Warner tells Politico that after the attack on Wednesday, Congress would ‘take revenge’ on social media platforms that were unable to contain violent content and threats on their platforms. “It will come back and bite them,” he said.
Update 9 January 13:15 ET: Add comments from Facebook