Posted by Olivia Beauvois.
When examining the article, both the Gonzalez v. Google LLC and Twitter v. Taamneh cases highlight the more extreme instances of risk factors involving social media. The case Gonzalez v. Google LLC was brought to the court by the family of Nohemi Gonzalez, who was unfortunately killed in the November 2015 ISIS terrorist attack in Paris at only 23 years old. The lawsuit promotes important discussion revolving around the negative side of social media, stating that Google, which partners with YouTube, is allowing members of terrorist groups to use YouTube as a platform to help recruit other group members. With the help of YouTube, these terrorist groups could post violent and gruesome content and spread these videos by using the platform to suggest their extremist material to other users. They do this by using the viewer algorithms to consider the audience interested in their own content, attempting to recruit these new prospects.
When the case reached the Ninth Circuit of Appeals, a panel of judges revoked the law of Section 230, which “protects platforms’ algorithmic recommendations.” Judges assert that although Section 230 may be more expansive than Congress intended, the legislative branch, not the court, has the authority to clarify it. Additionally, the plaintiff’s debated against the idea that the Ninth Circuit made a mistake in letting go of their case because YouTube is providing notifications for the content and wasn’t simply acting as a provider for terrorist groups in the process of recruitment. Furthermore, even if YouTube and Google were to be protected by Section 230, these notifications that YouTube was sending out go against the anti-terrorism act by being able to help and provide ISIS with new recruitment members.
Likewise, similar concepts were involved in the Twitter v. Taamneh case regarding the same anti-terrorism act. Although they don’t focus in on the Section 230 law, the claim states that Twitter was allegedly hosting terrorists’ content and helping with their online recruitment as well. However, when the Twitter v. Taamneh case came to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the lawsuit was stopped short when stating, “all content posted by terror groups on social media platforms.” This phrase made the claim not efficient enough to advance with an “aiding and abetting” statement under the Anti-Terrorism Act.
However, on the other hand, the Gonzalez v. Google case led Google to argue against the claims of violating the Anti-Terrorism Act, stating that the case should be dismissed because of Section 230. Although these algorithm recommendations are outside of their control, Google and YouTube dictate that they will continue to take steps to condemn terrorism and reduce the number of videos being posted by these groups.
In my opinion, given these certain circumstances, I believe that Section 230 should be looked at more critically. It should never be permitted for terrorist organizations to utilize a well-known social media site to advertise their own operations. Additionally, I believe that YouTube and Twitter should take greater measures to remove videos that violate their own policies rather than allowing them to aid organizations like ISIS in their recruitment efforts.
Olivia is a business major at the Stillman School of Business, Seton Hall University, Class of 2028.
Citations:
Revell, Eric. “Supreme Court to Hear Arguments on Google and Twitter’s Liability for Terrorists’ Online Postings.” Fox Business, Fox Business, 20 Feb. 2023, www.foxbusiness.com/markets/supreme-court-hear-arguments-google-twitters-liability-terrorists-online-postings Links to an external site..