Federal Court Dumps Another Lawsuit Against Twitter For Contributing To Worldwide Terrorism

Legal Issues

from the legal-definition-of-insanity dept

The lawsuits against social media companies brought by victims of terrorist attacks continue to pile up. So far, though, no one has racked up a win. Certain law firms (1-800-LAW-FIRM and Excolo Law) appear to be making a decent living filing lawsuits they’ll never have a chance of winning, but it’s not doing much for victims and their families.

The lawsuits attempt to route around Section 230 immunity by positing the existence of terrorists on social media platform is exactly the same thing as providing material support for terrorism. But this argument doesn’t provide better legal footing. No matter what approach is taken, it’s still plaintiffs seeking to hold social media companies directly responsible for violent acts committed by others.

Eric Goldman has written about another losing effort involving one of the major players in the Twitter terrorism lawsuit field, Excolo Law. Once again, the plaintiffs don’t present any winning arguments. The California federal court doesn’t even have to address Section 230 immunity to toss the case. The Anti-Terrorism Act allegations are bad enough to warrant dismissal.

Here’s what the court has to say about the direct liability arguments:

The FAC [First Amended Complaint] plausibly alleges that ISIS used Twitter to reach new followers, raise funds, and incite violence. It also adequately alleges that Twitter knew ISIS-affiliated users were posting these communications, and that it made only minimal efforts to control them.

Nevertheless, the direct relationship link is missing. Most of the allegations are about ISIS’s use of Twitter in general. The relatively few allegations involving Twitter that are specific to the attacks that killed plaintiffs’ family members also provide little more than generic statements that some of alleged perpetrators of the attacks were “active” Twitter users who used the platform to follow “ISIS-affiliated Twitter accounts” and otherwise “communicate with others.” Nothing in the FAC rises to the level of plausibly alleging that plaintiffs were injured “by reason of” Twitter’s conduct. Consequently, the direct ATA claims are dismissed.

The indirect liability route doesn’t fare any better:

The FAC does not allege that Twitter was “aware” that it was “assuming a role in” the terrorists’ attacks in Europe. See id. It does not allege that Twitter encouraged ISIS to carry out these attacks or even knew about them before they occurred. At most, the FAC alleges that Twitter should have known ISIS was planning an attack and that it ignored the possible consequences of letting terrorists operate on its platform. That is in effect an allegation of recklessness, but JASTA [Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act] requires more. Although plaintiffs are correct that Congress referred in its statement of findings and purpose to those who “knowingly or recklessly contribute material support or resources” to terrorists, JASTA § 2(a)(6) (emphasis added), the plain language of Section 2333 reaches only those “knowingly providing substantial assistance.” 18 U.S.C. § 2333(d)(2). This clear statutory text controls.

There’s no plausible conspiracy claim either. If this argument was given credence by the court, Twitter would be a co-conspirator in any criminal activity carried out by its users.

Nothing in the FAC establishes an agreement, express or otherwise, between Twitter and ISIS to commit terrorist attacks. Plaintiffs point to Twitter’s terms of service that every user is subject to, but while that clearly is an “agreement,” it is hardly relevant to a terrorist conspiracy. No other plausible agreement is mentioned in the FAC.

The plaintiffs are given one more chance to amend their complaint, but these are allegations that can’t be massaged into victorious arguments. The problem that continues to be talked around in these lawsuits is that you cannot hold a social media platform responsible for the actions of its users. If the plaintiffs drop the ATA arguments, they’re just going to run into Section 230 immunity. While the acts of terrorism were horrific and drastically affected the lives of the families of those killed, suing Twitter, Facebook, et al over these acts doesn’t do anything for the plaintiffs but take time and money away from those who’ve already lost loved ones.

I’m not suggesting the law firms engaging in these lawsuits are lying to plaintiffs about their chances or encouraging futile litigation. I certainly would hope they aren’t engaged in any of the above because that would mean they’re preying on hurting people to earn income. But this steady stream of lawsuits — much of it emanating from two law firms — seems to suggest a level of intellectual dishonesty that’s especially unseemly given the underlying circumstances.

Filed Under: blame, cda 230, intermediary liability, lawsuits, material support, social media, terrorism
Companies: excolo law, twitter