Twitter, Inc. v. Taamneh

Twitter Inc. v. Taamneh (Docket 21–1496) is a pending case of the Supreme Court of the United States on October 3, 2022. The case considers whether Internet service providers are liable for "aiding and abetting" a designated foreign terrorist organization in an "act of international terrorism", on account of recommending such content posted by users, under Section 2333 of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996.[1] Along with Gonzalez v. Google LLC, Taamneh is one of two cases where social media companies are accused of aiding and abetting terrorism in violation of the law. The cases were decided together in a ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which ruled that Taamneh's case could proceed.[2] The cases challenge the broad liability immunity for hosting and recommending terrorist content that websites have enjoyed.[3]

Twitter, Inc. v. Taamneh
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued February 22, 2023
Full case nameTwitter, Inc., et al., v. Mehier Taamneh, et al.
Docket no.21-1496
ArgumentOral argument
Questions presented
  1. Whether a defendant that provides generic, widely available services to all its numerous users and "regularly" works to detect and prevent terrorists from using those services "knowingly" provided substantial assistance under Section 2333 merely because it allegedly could have taken more "meaningful" or "aggressive" action to prevent such use.
  2. Whether a defendant whose generic, widely available services were not used in connection with the specific "act of international terrorism" that injured the plaintiff may be liable for aiding and abetting under Section 2333
Court membership
Chief Justice
John Roberts
Associate Justices
Clarence Thomas · Samuel Alito
Sonia Sotomayor · Elena Kagan
Neil Gorsuch · Brett Kavanaugh
Amy Coney Barrett · Ketanji Brown Jackson

History

Jordanian citizen Nawras Alassaf died in 2017 during an Islamic State-affiliated attack in Istanbul.[4]

Arguing that the companies failed to control terrorist content on their sites, Alassaf's family sued Twitter, Google and Facebook.

Arguing that the lower court decision improperly expanded the scope of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2333, Twitter appealed, arguing that the case warranted review from SCOTUS.[5]

On appeal, the Ninth Circuit did not consider protections under Section 230 in the case, and affirmed the lower court ruling that stated that Twitter, Google and Facebook could be liable.[6]

Supreme Court

The Supreme Court granted certiorari for the case in October 2022, alongside the related case Gonzalez v. Google LLC.[5] Free speech organizations like the Center for Democracy and Technology, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, as well as technology industry trade groups like the Computer & Communications Industry Association, and the US Chamber of Commerce filed amicus briefs in support of the petitioner.[7] The Anti-Defamation League, Senator Chuck Grassley, former US national security officials, and retired American military generals filed amicus briefs in support of the respondent.[7]

The Court heard oral arguments in Twitter on February 22, 2023. The questions and debate among the Justices and counsels for the parties focused more on the language of the Anti-Terrorism Act, particularly the language of "knowingly providing substantial assistance" to terrorism organisms, and what role Twitter and other services had in regards. Observers to the Court believed that the Justices were not looking for broad changes to the Anti-Terrorism Act or Section 230 that would upend the Internet.[8]

See also

References
  1. Robertson, Adi (October 3, 2022). "The Supreme Court will determine whether you can sue platforms for hosting terrorists". The Verge. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  2. Cushing, Tim (June 30, 2021). "Ninth Circuit Appeals Court Says Some Disturbing Stuff About Section 230 While Dumping Another Two 'Sue Twitter For Terrorism' Lawsuits". Techdirt. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  3. Stohr, Greg (October 3, 2022). "Social Media Company Liability Draws Supreme Court Scrutiny". Bloomberg News. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  4. "Supreme Court will hear two cases seeking to hold social media companies financially responsible for terrorist attacks". CBS News. October 3, 2022. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
  5. Mueller, Julia (October 3, 2022). "Supreme Court to hear challenge to Big Tech's Section 230 liability protections". The Hill. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  6. Kern, Rebecca (October 3, 2022). "SCOTUS to hear challenge to Section 230 protections". Politico. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  7. "Twitter, Inc. v. Taamneh". SCOTUSblog. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
  8. Fung, Brian; Sneed, Tierney; Sangal, Aditi (February 22, 2023). "Supreme Court hears oral arguments in Twitter case that could upend the internet". CNN. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
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