Congressman James Comer, chair of the US House Oversight and Government Reform committee (HOGR), yesterday invited Valve president Gabe Newell, Discord CEO Humam Sakhnini, Twitch CEO Dan Clancy, and Reddit CEO Steve Huffman to testify before a HOGR hearing on October 8.
The hearing, per a press release from HOGR itself, "will examine the radicalization of online forum users, including instances of open incitement to commit politically motivated acts," and if you're wondering if that's a roundabout way of saying it's tied to the September 10 assassination of American far-right activist Charlie Kirk—it is.
"The politically motivated assassination of Charlie Kirk claimed the life of a husband, father, and American patriot," reads a statement from Comer (the motivation for Kirk's murder is yet to be definitively established). "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 says that the above-named execs "must appear before the Oversight Committee and explain what actions they will take to ensure their platforms are not exploited for nefarious purposes."
A Discord spokesperson said to the BBC that Tyler Robinson—the 22-year-old who has been charged with Kirk's murder—seemingly took responsibility for the shooting in a Discord server not long after it occurred. "It was me at [Utah Valley University, the site of Kirk's shooting] yesterday. im sorry for all of this," wrote an account alleged to belong to Robinson on the platform.
Perhaps it was this that led HOGR to issue its request for testimony to Discord's CEO, but even so, there is little evidence that Robinson was radicalised by any online platform he's alleged to have been on.
Records obtained by independent journalist Ken Klippenstein appear to show the same account which made the aforementioned confession only ever seemed apolitical, mostly discussing games like Helldivers 2 and Deep Rock Galactic. "I think the main thing that’s caused so much confusion is that he was always generally apolitical for the most part," an anonymous friend of Robinson's told Klippenstein.
There is even less obvious reason for HOGR's invitations to the bosses of Twitch, Valve, and Reddit. While it's undoubtedly true that teenagers have been—and continue to be—radicalised by extremists on gaming platforms, there is not yet evidence to suggest this led to Kirk's assassination.
In the absence of a sure explanation, theories and conspiracies abound, and with figures like health and human services secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr making claims reminiscent of the heyday of anti-videogame lawyer Jack Thompson—that there is a link between gaming and US mass shootings—it feels like the attempt to put a spotlight on online gaming spaces is less about a serious attempt to tackle online radicalisation, and more about finding a scapegoat.
