Tech giants such as Facebook, Twitter and Google are being sued by the Orlando nightclub victims´ families for allegedly providing support to the terrorist group ISIS, since they blame these companies for helping spread and disseminate extremist propaganda that consequentially radicalized the gunman, Omar Mateen, in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.
Facebook, Twitter And Google Allegedly Helped ISIS To Disseminate Its Propaganda
Several reports show that the lawsuit filed on Monday in federal court in the eastern district of Michigan, by the families of Javier Jorge-Reyes, Tevin Crosby, and Juan Ramon Guerrero. Apparently, the lawsuit against Facebook, Twitter, and Google particularly focuses on the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which actually protect these kinds of companies from being held responsible for any speech made by users on their platforms.
The lawyer representing the three families, Keith Altman, stated that Mateen was radicalized by the terrorist group ISIS using social media networks as Facebook, Twitter, and Google for that express purpose. Apparently, the lawsuit present the latest to target popular internet services such as these platforms, for making it too easy for the Islamic extremist to spread their message.
A Situation That Could Harm The Image Of These Companies
Altman also represented the family of Nohemi Gonzalez -who was killed in last year´s terrorist attacks in Paris- in a lawsuit that was also made against Facebook, Twitter and Google back in June. Although many believe that these platforms shouldn't be blamed for this, the truth is that ISIS have used to spread propaganda and even to attract and train new recruits.
Given this situation, it was reported that the latter lawsuit made against Facebook, Twitter and Google claims that these sites helped ISIS to grow into the most feared terrorist group in the world since these platforms are extremely popular and are able to disseminate a single post to millions of people in a matter of seconds. Although it´s not known how this lawsuit it´s going to proceed, this is a situation that could harm the reputation of these tech giants.
