The House Homeland Security Committee subpoenaed the owner of 8chan, Jim Watkins, on Wednesday in an attempt to force the Philippines-based entrepreneur to testify before lawmakers next month. The subpoena follows a series of white supremacist-inspired attacks across the world this year, many of which were linked to 8chan.
"We have questions on what is being done to counter this trend so we can be sure it is being properly addressed," Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Mike Rogers (R-AL) said in a statement. "Receiving testimony from Mr. Watkins is critical to our oversight on this matter."
The subpoena requests that Watkins testify before the committee on September 5th at 9:30AM. Watkins has not publicly responded as of publication. However, he did post
a video to YouTube on Sunday saying that his team has kept 8chan offline until they speak with lawmakers. It's unclear whether the lawmakers have requested that it remain inaccessible until that time.
"The website has been offline voluntarily for the last week," Watkins said. "It's really, really sad. Please don't blame me."
