US House panel asks online forum CEOs to testify after Charlie Kirk assassination

FILE PHOTO: Candles and flowers are placed near an image of conservative activist Charlie Kirk with his family, during a vigil for him in Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 15, 2025. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A U.S. House committee on Wednesday asked the CEOsof Discord, Steam, Amazon-owned Twitch, and Reddit to testify at an Oct. 8 hearing on the radicalization of some online forum users.

Representative James Comer, chair of the U.S. House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said he was calling the hearing after the assassination of Charlie Kirk. "In the wake of this tragedy, and amid other acts of politically motivated violence, Congress has a duty to oversee the online platforms that radicals have used to advance political violence," Comer said.