"In each case, these people – good people, normal people without political power – were persecuted because their viewpoints were, in one way or another, perceived as a threat to the established order"
That's true, but the investigation is specifically about criminal actions, not persecution for beliefs.
And if I am reading the subpoena correctly, they're basically looking for data on moderation activity and policies. That would seem be a purely corporate function and not related to actual user postings or any attempt at user identification. Gab claims they are very responsive to government requests related to criminal activity or foreign influence campaigns and that seems to be all they are investigating with this request. If they want to see what users are talking about, they can go in the front door like everyone else. And if they identify criminal activity, they will issue subpoenas or warrants. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Not exactly. Some points are about Gab's policing. But the subpoena requires all "data" about "misinformation", "disinformation", "efforts to challenge election results", etc. Why does data about people freely expressing/protesting viewpoints should be handed to government? It is also not clear why people /talking/ about overturning election is criminal, if they do nothing?
Second, when government need to know about criminal activities, they should specify who is it that they want to investigate and for what case, similar to how law enforcement do with a judge request, and not just scan everyone in the platform.
My reading is that they are not asking "give us your disinformation" they are asking for their policies and data regarding the moderation of disinformation. Their response to the request seems to more or less answer the request by saying "we don't have any because we consciously don't try". This request appears to also be just a request. Nor a subpoena. But that being said, Congress isn't law enforcement. They're allowed issue subpoenas for information relevant to informing legislation. Mark Zuckerberg wasn't under indictment, nor was a material witness when he testified to Congress. They just wanted a public forum to understand how social media functions, how it could function and if additional oversight was warranted.
That's true, but the investigation is specifically about criminal actions, not persecution for beliefs.
And if I am reading the subpoena correctly, they're basically looking for data on moderation activity and policies. That would seem be a purely corporate function and not related to actual user postings or any attempt at user identification. Gab claims they are very responsive to government requests related to criminal activity or foreign influence campaigns and that seems to be all they are investigating with this request. If they want to see what users are talking about, they can go in the front door like everyone else. And if they identify criminal activity, they will issue subpoenas or warrants. Correct me if I'm wrong.