US Supreme Court to hear social media terrorism lawsuits

The US Supreme Court has announced it will hear two cases that are seeking to hold social media companies responsible for terrorist attacks.

Relatives of people killed in terrorist attacks in France and Turkey have sued Google, Twitter and Facebook, accusing them of helping terrorists radicalise new recruits and spread their message.

A decision in the cases is expected before the court recesses for the summer - likely to be late June.

The first case involves Nohemi Gonzalez, a 23-year-old US citizen who was studying in Paris, who was killed in the Paris attacks in November 2015. Gonzalez's relatives sued Google, the owner of YouTube, arguing the platform aided the Islamic State group by allowing it to publish hundreds of videos inciting violence and recruiting supporters. They also argue that the platform's algorithms recommend these videos to those most likely to be interested in them.

However, a judge dismissed the case and the ruling was upheld by a federal appeals court. Section Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act in the US states that internet companies are generally exempt from liability for the material that users post.

In the second case, relatives of Nawras Alassaf, who died in the 2017 attack on the Reina nightclub in Istanbul, sued Twitter, Google and Facebook for aiding terrorism. The relatives argue that the platforms helped the Islamic State grow and did not do enough to combat terrorist activity on their platforms.