Civil Liability for Internet Companies to Help Prevent International Terrorism
On May 18, the Supreme Court issued its much-anticipated decisions in Twitter v. Taamneh and Gonzales v. Google. Both cases involved terrorist attacks by members of ISIS. In both cases, plaintiffs alleged that social media companies helped ISIS recruit new members by amplifying ISIS content and promoting that content to social media users. In both…
Continue ReadingSupreme Court Likely to Shield Internet Platforms from Liability for Terrorist Acts
On February 21 and 22, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two companion cases regarding the liability of internet platforms for terrorists’ use of their services. Gonzalez v. Google concerns the scope of immunity for internet companies under 47 U.S.C § 230, specifically whether that statutory grant of immunity covers a platform’s automated suggestions…
Continue ReadingSupreme Court to Consider Tech Companies’ Liability for Terrorism
On February 21 and 22, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in two cases, Gonzalez v. Google and Twitter v. Taamneh, that raise questions about how a civil cause of action set forth in the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) applies when known terrorist organizations use social media services. Both cases involve terrorist attacks (in Paris…
Continue ReadingIs the Treaty Supremacy Rule Really Dead?
In MedellÃn v. Texas, the U.S. Supreme Court held that a non-self-executing treaty does not supersede conflicting state law, or perhaps that courts cannot enforce non-self-executing treaties to override conflicting state laws. After MedellÃn, one would have expected state courts in treaty supremacy cases to begin their analyses by determining whether a treaty is self-executing….
Continue ReadingSection 230 and the Presumption Against Extraterritoriality
The Ninth Circuit opinion in Gonzalez v. Google (2021) raises important questions about how the presumption against extraterritoriality applies to immunity defenses invoked by social media companies under 47 U.S.C. § 230.Section 230 shields internet companies from civil liability for user-generated content hosted on their platforms. Gonzalezholds, effectively, that there is no conceivable application of…
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