Rep. Adam Kinzinger suggests social media companies need to take responsibility for violent, 'insurrection-type' speech

Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois speaks as the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol holds a hearing at the Capitol in Washington D.C. on July 21, 2022.

Scott Applewhite/AP

• Rep. Adam Kinzinger condemned violent speech online as threats spike following the Mar-a-Lago raid.
• Kinzinger suggested that social media companies need to do more to stop the promotion of violence.
• The House Oversight Committee sent letters to social media companies on Friday about online threats.

Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger on Friday suggested social media companies should be more proactive against violent threats made online.

The Illinois congressman, who is one of two Republicans on the House select committee investigating the January 6 Capitol riot, said during an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper that the country needs to "come to a conclusion on what social media is and isn't responsible for."

"I'm all for the First Amendment," he said. "What I'm not for is insurrection-type, violent-type speech being promoted, passed on in these mediums that can lead to a really destabilized situation."

His comments came hours after lawmakers of the House Oversight Committee sent letters to the executives of eight social media companies, demanding that they take action against the "spike in online threats against law enforcement officers" that have been made since the FBI searched Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home on August 8.

A letter was sent to the executives of Meta, Facebook's parent company, Twitter, TikTok, Truth Social, Rumble, Gettr, Telegram, and Gab.

"We are concerned that reckless statements by the former President and Republican Members of Congress have unleashed a flood of violent threats on social media that have already led to at least one death and pose a danger to law enforcement officers across the United States," Rep. Carolyn Maloney and Rep. Stephen Lynch, the chairs of the Oversight Committee, wrote. "We urge you to take immediate action to address any threats of violence against law enforcement that appear on your company's platforms."

An armed man was shot dead by police last week after an hours-long stand-off at an FBI office in Cincinnati, Ohio, two days after the Mar-a-Lago raid. Authorities said the suspect tried to breach the FBI office.

Kinzinger also took a swipe at older social media users who show off their weapons and claim they're "going after the government" or the FBI.

"It's all over TikTok," he said. "It's always amazing to me to see these 50, 60-year-old men on TikTok."

"But those are the kinds of things we have to discuss — like that can't be allowed anymore in this country," he continued.

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