Senate Panel Dispatches Marshals to Tech Companies

CEOs receive subpoenas after summonses were turned away
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 20, 2023 7:30 PM CST
Senate Panel Dispatches Marshals to Tech Companies
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin takes his seat for a meeting in Washington on Nov. 9.   (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

Several major tech companies declined to cooperate by accepting summonses for their chief executives to testify in Washington, so the Senate Judiciary Committee said it had to escalate. X CEO Linda Yaccarino, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel, and Discord CEO Jason Citron have now been subpoenaed, CNN reports. The committee enlisted US marshals to make the deliveries after the companies declined to accept the summonses on behalf of the CEOs, which it called a "remarkable departure from typical practice." The invitations are for a hearing Dec. 6 on content moderation and children's safety online.

In addition, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew are scheduled to testify voluntarily. Discord and X issued statements calling safety a priority, though an X executive suggested scheduling difficulty. "Today we are communicating our updated availability," Wifredo Fernandez wrote. The Senate Judiciary Committee's top Democrat and Republican issued a statement saying they had promised the companies would "have their chance to explain their failures to protect kids." Sens. Dick Durbin and Lindsey Graham added, "Now's that chance." (More tech companies stories.)

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