Owner of online message board 8chan to testify before House
The owner of online forum 8chan will be grilled by members of Congress on Thursday after outcry over his site's use by racist extremists including the alleged gunman who killed 22 people in El Paso, Texas, on Aug. 3.
Owner Jim Watkins was subpoenaed by the House Homeland Security Committee and will be in a closed-door session starting at 9:30 a.m. in the nation's capital. Lawmakers want to know why the website with the tagline "embrace infamy" has become a gathering place for white nationalists.
8chan founder Fredrick Brennan, who says he no longer has any control over the site, told NBC News on Wednesday that he believes Watkins will "lie through his teeth" during testimony.
“He has no rules against inciting violence or celebrating mass shootings,” Brennan said.
He called for 8chan to be shut down a day after the El Paso shooting, during which the accused shooter confessed to targeting Hispanics.
8chan is currently offline, but Watkins said it will be back up and running following his congressional testimony, according to NBC News. Cloudflare, a widely used Internet services provider, dropped 8chan the day after the shooting.
"We just sent notice we are terminating service for 8chan. There comes a time when enough is enough. But this isn't the end. We need to have a broader conversation about addressing the root causes of hate online," Prince wrote on Twitter on Aug. 4.
FOXBusiness' inquiries to 8chan were not returned at the time of publication.