Supreme Court Wrestles With Suit Claiming Twitter Aided Terrorists

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The Supreme Court heard arguments over whether internet platforms may be sued for aiding and abetting international terrorism by failing to remove videos supporting the Islamic State. The case, which concerns a federal law allowing suits for “knowingly providing substantial assistance” to terrorists, was linked to one argued that considered the separate question of whether platforms are immune from lawsuits under a 1996 law that shields them from liability for what their users post. As a practical matter, the court’s ruling in Twitter v. Taamneh, No. 21-1496, could effectively resolve both cases and allow the justices to duck difficult questions about the scope of the 1996 law, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. The argument was technical. The justices teased apart elements of the law before them, the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, parsing its provisions and posing hypothetical questions about what sort of conduct it covered. Chief Justice John Roberts said that “the discussion this morning has really taken on a very academic tone.” The case concerned Nawras Alassaf, who was killed in a terrorist attack at a nightclub in Istanbul in 2017 for which the Islamic State claimed responsibility. His family sued Twitter and other tech companies, saying they had allowed ISIS to use their platforms to recruit and train terrorists.


Supreme Court Wrestles With Suit Claiming Twitter Aided Terrorists Supreme Court Hears Arguments on Whether Twitter Is Liable in Terror Case (WSJ) Supreme Court questions Twitter’s liability for terrorist attack (Washington Post) Supreme Court sounds split on whether social media firms can be sued for aiding terrorists (LA Times)