Supreme Court sides with Twitter, Google over tech platform liability
In a pair of highly anticipated rulings handed down Thursday, the US Supreme Court found that Google and Twitter could not be held liable under anti-terrorism laws for hosting content posted by terrorist groups. The decision was seen as a victory for the technology sector.
In Twitter, Inc. v. Taamneh, Justice Clarence Thomas, writing for a unanimous court, said that the plaintiffs in the original case — the family of a Jordanian national who died in a terrorist attack — had failed to state a claim under which relief could be provided. Thmoas wrote that the anti-terrorism law under which they sued Twitter did not provide for liability in a case where Twitter had merely provided a platform ISIS used.