Supreme Court sides with YouTube and Twitter in terrorism-case liability dispute

The Supreme Court of the United States has sided with the tech giants in the case over the responsibility of YouTube and Twitter’s recommendation systems for propagating terrorism.

The case concerns “Gonzalez v. Google.” The plaintiffs sought to revisit the interpretation of Section 230 of the Communications Act, which shields online platforms from liability for user-generated content.

In 2015, a relative of the victims died during the ISIS attacks in Paris. The plaintiffs argued that YouTube was partly responsible for disseminating recruitment materials for terrorist groups.

The Supreme Court held that the core claims in Gonzalez were weak, regardless of the applicability of Section 230.

At the same time, the court rejected a similar suit, “Twitter v. Taamne.” In that case, the family of a victim killed during ISIS’s attack in Istanbul in 2017 accused the social network of deliberate support for terrorists.

Justice Clarence Thomas said the claims were insufficient to establish that the defendants aided and abetted ISIS in the attack under consideration. He argued that Twitter’s failure to police extremist content does not mean the company is participating in illegal activity.

“If liability for aiding goes too far, ordinary merchants could be liable for any unlawful use of their goods and services,” Thomas wrote.

The judge compared social networks to other older forms of communication:

“The same could be said of mobile phones, email or the internet at large. […] We do not think providers are aiders or abettors in, say, unlawful drug deals conducted via mobile phones.”

The court also declined to find that recommendation systems actively assist in disseminating unlawful content.

“The fact that algorithms matched some ISIS content with certain users does not convert passive help by the defendants into active incitement,” the ruling states.

Civil-liberties advocates welcomed the verdict.

“We’re pleased the Court did not dilute Section 230, which remains an essential part of the architecture of the modern Internet,” said the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

The Google Public Policy team also backed the ruling.

Countless companies, scholars, creators and civil society groups who joined with us in this case will be reassured by this result. We’ll continue to safeguard free expression online, combat harmful content, and support businesses and creators who benefit from the internet. https://t.co/w7uBX94ocQ

— Google Public Policy (@googlepubpolicy) May 18, 2023

In January, a group of companies, users, scientists and human-rights experts advocated in defense of YouTube and Section 230.