US Supreme Court rejects lawsuit against Facebook over terrorism posts
The US Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit filed against Facebook with claims that the platform provided material support to terrorists by hosting their content. The case was brought by the family of five Americans who were injured or killed by Hamas attacks in Israel. The lawsuit alleged that Facebook was aware that hosted accounts belong to Hamas members. The plaintiffs claimed that Facebook’s algorithm promoted terrorist content to users who liked similar pages and posts; therefore, should not be protected under the Communications Decency Act which generally exempts Internet service providers from liability for illegal third-party content. The Court of Appeals had dismissed the case before by ruling that Facebook’s recommendation system was fundamental for the proper functioning of the platform.
About author
DW Team
The GIP Digital Watch Observatory team, consisting of over 30 digital policy experts from around the world, excels in the fields of research and analysis on digital policy issues. The team is backed by the creative prowess of Creative Lab Diplo and the technical expertise of the Diplo tech team.