A Senate panel issued bipartisan subpoenas to the CEOs of Discord, Snap, and
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Sen. Lindsey Graham, the committee’s top Republican from South Carolina, announced Monday that they had issued subpoenas to Discord CEO Jason Citron, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel, and Linda Yaccarino. , CEO of Discord. CEO of X, formerly known as Twitter, “after repeatedly refusing to appear” during weeks of negotiations.
“Big Tech’s failure to police themselves at the expense of our children cannot go unanswered,” the two senators said in a statement about the December 6 hearing, which will focus on online child sexual exploitation.
The panel said that “in a marked departure from standard practice,” Discord and
In response to the subpoenas, the three companies said they would work with the committee. But none of them committed to the December 6 session.
“Snap CEO has already agreed to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee, and our team is coordinating with committee staff on potential dates,” Snap said in a statement.
“Keeping our users, especially young people, safe is central to everything we do at Discord,” Discord said. “We have actively engaged with the committee on how we can best contribute to this important industry discussion.”
Wifredo Fernandez, X’s head of U.S. and Canadian government affairs, said in a statement that the company is acting in “good faith” to participate because safety is the company’s top priority. “Today we are announcing our updated availability to participate in a hearing on this important issue,” Fernandez said.
Durbin and Graham said the committee is still in discussions with both Meta and TikTok, and they expect their CEOs, Mark Zuckerberg and Xu Ziqiu, to testify voluntarily.
Social media companies have faced criticism from lawmakers, regulators, and the public for the harm their platforms cause to children and teens. Recently, Meta was sued by 41 states and Washington, D.C., for contributing to the youth mental health crisis by intentionally designing features on Instagram and Facebook that lead to teens becoming addicted to the platforms.
