The U.S. House Oversight Committee wants answers from the biggest names in gaming and streaming. Committee Chair James Comer sent invitations to Twitch CEO Dan Clancy, Discord’s leadership, and Valve president Gabe Newell to testify about radicalization in online communities.
These are just invitations, not subpoenas. The executives can decline, send someone else, or submit written statements instead of showing up in person. A hearing date of October 8th, 2025, has been set.
The committee wants to know how these platforms handle extremist content and whether their design features enable radicalization. All three platforms host millions of users who chat, share content, and build communities every day.
Steam caught some people off guard. While most know it as a game store, Steam also runs massive community forums, chat groups, and user profiles where people interact beyond just buying games.
Twitch faces questions about its live chat moderation and how political content gets handled on the platform. The Amazon-owned streaming service has dealt with criticism about inconsistent enforcement of hate speech rules.
Discord’s private servers and group chats make it harder to monitor what users share. The platform has worked to remove extremist groups since 2017 but still faces challenges with its semi-private structure.
Notable platforms missing from the invite list include X (Twitter), Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, YouTube, and smaller streaming sites like Kick. The focus on gaming-adjacent platforms suggests lawmakers might be reviving old debates about video games and violence.
If the hearing happens, it will likely stream on C-SPAN and congressional channels. Companies often send policy executives instead of CEOs to these events. Valve rarely does public appearances, so Gabe Newell showing up would be a surprise.
