Big win for Twitter, Google at US Supreme Court in internet liability cases

In a big win for social media giants Twitter and Google, US Supreme Court on Thursday sidestepped claims that internet companies can be held accountable for the content posted on their sites, The Hill reported.

The judges debated two cases in which the families of terrorist attack victims claimed that Google and Twitter should be held accountable for aiding and abetting ISIS, which resulted in the death of their loved ones.

After the legal accusations, Google claimed that it was shielded from all of it by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, passed in 1996 to stop internet service providers from being held accountable for third-party information uploaded on their websites.

However, the court decided on Thursday that neither company had any underlying obligation to require the protections, avoiding becoming involved in the contentious Section 230 argument, according to The Hill.

In the Twitter case, conservative Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for a unanimous jury that the plaintiffs’ claims came “far short of plausibly alleging that defendants aided and abetted the Reina attack.”

The incident dates back to the time when an ISIS-linked attacker opened fire at the Reina nightclub in the Ortakoy neighbourhood of Istanbul, Turkey, on January 1, 2017, killing at least 38 people, along with Nawras Alassaf.

Hundreds of people had been enjoying New Year’s Day there when the incident took place. The family of Alassaf filed a lawsuit against Twitter and other tech companies, claiming they did not do enough to combat the terrorist organisation.

The incident dates back to the time when an ISIS-linked attacker opened fire at the Reina nightclub in the Ortakoy neighbourhood of Istanbul, Turkey, on January 1, 2017, killing at least 38 people, along with Nawras Alassaf. Hundreds of people had been enjoying New Year’s Day there when the incident took place.

The family of Alassaf filed a lawsuit against Twitter and other tech companies, claiming they did not do enough to combat the terrorist organisation.

With inputs from agencies.

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