In recent years, survivors and family members of victims of terrorist attacks undertaken primarily by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), have filed lawsuits against social media platforms asking courts to hold the platforms responsible for their alleged role leading to such attacks. To date, none of these lawsuits have gone beyond the pre-trial stage and several cases have been preliminarily dismissed.
Despite stepped-up efforts by social media platforms to remove terrorist content, the European Union is recommending an operational measure that includes a “one-hour rule” that would require platforms to remove terrorist content within one hour from notification by law enforcement or a “trusted flagger” or face stiff fines. Additionally, on January 17, 2018, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation held a hearing titled: “Terrorism and Social Media: #IsBigTechDoingEnough?”
Read Kathy Ossian’s recent article “Should Social Media Platforms Be Accountable for “Facilitating” Terrorist Attacks?” pubished in PLI Current, The Journal of PLI Press, Vol. 2, No. 2, Spring 2918 available here. Contact us at Ossian Law regarding any information technology law question.
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