Senate Judiciary issues subpoenas to X, Snap, Discord CEOs on kids' safety

The CEOs of three major social media platforms are being summoned to testify on Capitol Hill over their alleged failure to protect kids online.

What's happening: Sens. Dick Durbin and Lindsey Graham on Monday announced they sent subpoenas to Discord CEO Jason Citron, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel and X CEO Linda Yaccarino to compel them to testify at a Dec. 6 hearing on online child sexual exploitation.

• The senators said they expect Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will appear voluntarily.

What they're saying: Snap spokesperson Pete Boogaard told Axios that the company's CEO "has already agreed to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee, and our team is coordinating with Committee staff on potential dates."

Of note: The press release said that in a "remarkable departure from typical practice" both Discord and X "refused to cooperate by accepting service of the subpoenas on behalf of their CEOs, requiring the Committee to enlist the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Service to personally serve the subpoenas."

The big picture: X has undergone massive scrutiny since Elon Musk's takeover, and this would be Yaccarino's first time testifying on Capitol Hill.

• None of the companies immediately responded to requests for comment.
• The committee held a hearing on kids' safety in February, and since then has advanced a number of bills, including the STOP CSAM Act and the EARN IT Act, to the Senate floor.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with a comment from Snap.