Google, Twitter, Facebook Lawsuits On The San Bernardino Shooting Were Dismissed

Indira Datta


Pursuant to the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act 2016 (JASTA), these companies do not have any responsibility in providing resources to terrorists.

The shooting incident in San Bernardino, California in December 2015 killed 14 people and injured 22 people. There have been lawsuits alleging Facebook, Twitter, and Google as agents of this gunfight as it offered information to the Islamic State. The lawsuits call for three giant media companies to take responsibility for victims in the mass shooting. The offended parties included exploited people and relatives of casualties of the Dec. 2, 2015 assault at an administration.

A temporary memorial in San Bernardino, California in 2016 to commemorate the victims of the 2015 shootings.

Laurel Beeler, US Magistrate Judge made the final decision at the end of Monday in San Francisco. The court held that the shooting was not a direct consequence of the three alleged companies providing information and resources to the Islamic State.

He said:

Judge Beeler also said that pursuant to the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act 2016 (JASTA), these companies do not have any responsibility in providing resources to terrorists. The evidence just shows that these media service companies have had the initial awareness that these terrorists were using their platforms.

People commemorate the victims in the shooting in San Bernardino

The person who caused the incident was a marriage couple including a 28-year-old boy, Syed Farook, who was the son of an immigrant Pakistani born in the United States and Tashfeen Malik, a 29-year-old Pakistani. The Islamic state has said that Malik and Farook are two of their many followers. Police had to shoot two people right after they carried out the attack.

After contemplating and seeing the petitioners carrying too much prejudice in this lawsuit, Judge Beeler rejected the lawsuit. This also means that no one can file lawsuits again. In fact, federal law has exempted communication service providers from dealing with the content offered by its users.

The plaintiffs' lawyer, Keith Altman, spoke on Wednesday, saying the court's ruling did not surprise him. He also emphasized cases including the effect of JASTA and everything establishes the coordinates to be considered to be at the redrafting level.

All three giant tech companies, Google, Twitter, and Facebook, have not yet made any comments on these issues.

On January 15, Altman will file a petition to pose the federal appellate court in Cincinnati in order to reconsider similar lawsuits, accusing these three technology companies are involved in the shooting at Pulse nightclubs in June 2016 in Orlando, Florida.

Omar Mateen, born in New York, swore allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State and did everything for them. He was the one to carry out this massacre and then, he was killed by the police.

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