- The Washington Times - Thursday, January 21, 2021

Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, House Committee on Oversight and Reform chair, on Thursday requested the FBI to investigate the social media platform Parler and any role it may have played in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

The New York Democrat wrote a letter to FBI Director Christopher A. Wray to ask that he investigate Parler, which was a platform that became popular with Trump supporters that felt unwelcome on larger social media apps such as Twitter and Facebook.

“I am writing to request that as part of its comprehensive investigation of the January 6 assault on the Capitol, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) conduct a robust examination of the role that the social media site Parler played in the assault, including as a potential facilitator of planning and incitement related to the violence, as a repository of key evidence posted by users on its site, and as a potential conduit for foreign governments who may be financing civil unrest in the United States,” Ms. Maloney said in the letter.

Both Apple and Google removed Parler’s app from their app stores, and Amazon Web Services took the platform offline earlier this month, with the tech companies citing concerns about the consequences of harmful speech on Parler.

Ms. Maloney’s letter said her committee would conduct its own investigation of these matters, and she requested a meeting with FBI officials to better understand the scope of their relevant investigations.

Parler did not immediately respond to request for comment. 

• Ryan Lovelace can be reached at rlovelace@washingtontimes.com.

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