Twitter Sued by Widow of Islamic State Victim (January 13, 2016) [1]
On January 13, 2016, Tamara Fields, the widow of a man killed during a terrorist attack in Jordan, filed suit against Twitter, alleging that the social media network has violated federal law prohibiting the support of terrorist organizations. According to the complaint [3], “Twitter has knowingly permitted the terrorist group ISIS to use its social network as a tool for spreading extremist propaganda, raising funds and attracting new recruits. This material support has been instrumental to the rise of ISIS and has enabled it to carry out numerous terrorist attacks, including the November 9, 2015 shooting [during which Mr. Fields was killed].” According to a news report [4], the company expressed it sympathy to the victim, but denied any wrongdoing, highlighting that “[v]iolent threats and the promotion of terrorism deserve no place on Twitter and, like other social networks, our rules [5] make that clear.” Twitter is said to have promoted itself as a defender of free speech, and there is some disagreement regarding the claim that it honored up to 42% of governmental requests for removal of posts.