The legal shield known as Section 230 launched Big Tech and was largely unchallenged in the Supreme Court — until now.
Internet giants like Google, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter owe much of their success to a legal shield erected by Congress in 1996.
And they are expected to consider a third case later this year involving the 1st Amendment rights of internet companies amid state efforts to regulate them.began with a California family’s suit against Google and YouTube for allegedly aiding and abetting an act of international terrorism. Their daughter Nohemi Gonzalez was killed in Paris in November 2015 when Islamic State terrorists fired into a restaurant where the 23-year old student was dining with two friends.
A federal judge had dismissed the family’s suit based on Section 230, and a divided 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that decision in 2021. Google and other tech firms were surprised in October when the high court voted for the first time to hear a direct challenge to Section 230 and decide whether websites like YouTube can be sued for their use of algorithms and targeted recommendations.
Many experts in internet law said they were puzzled by the Supreme Court’s decision to take up the case and troubled by what it might mean. Congress in 2016 expanded the Antiterrorism Act to authorize lawsuits by victims or their survivors against anyone who “knowingly provided substantial assistance” to a person who committed an act of international terrorism.
It’s unclear whether the justices will split along the usual ideological lines when it comes to the Section 230 debate, which has liberals and conservatives on both sides.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Google faces Supreme Court in case that could decide future of Section 230Open arguments before the nine justices are scheduled to begin on Tuesday.
Read more »
Opinion: How Google ignores social media's consequences for childrenBig Tech and others defending Instagram and its ilk don't address a youth mental health crisis in their filings with the Supreme Court in a Section 230 case.
Read more »
Supreme Court weighs liability shield for internet giantsA lawsuit against YouTube from the family of an American college student who was killed by Islamic State gunmen in Paris in 2015 is at the center of a closely watched Supreme Court case being argued Tuesday
Read more »
Supreme Court weighs liability shield for internet giantsWASHINGTON (AP) — Islamic State gunmen killed American college student Nohemi Gonzalez as she sat with friends in a Paris bistro in 2015, one of several attacks on a Friday night in the French capital that left 130 people dead.
Read more »