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U.S. NEWS Wednesday 22 February 2023
Supreme Court weighs Google’s liability in ISIS terror case

By MARK SHERMAN agreeing with him would ul-
Associated Press timately make Section 230
WASHINGTON (AP) — In its meaningless.
first case about the federal Lower courts sided with
law that is credited with Google.
helping create the mod- A related case, set for ar-
ern internet, the Supreme guments Wednesday, in-
Court seemed unlikely volves a terrorist attack at
Tuesday to side with a fam- a nightclub in Istanbul in
ily wanting to hold Google 2017 that killed 39 people
liable for the death of their and prompted a lawsuit
daughter in a terrorist at- against Twitter, Facebook
tack. In two and a half and Google.
hours of arguments, the jus- Several justices suggested
tices seemed concerned that Wednesday’s argu-
about upending the inter- ments might provide an av-
net in their interpretation enue for avoiding the diffi-
of a 1996 law, Section 230 cult questions in Tuesday’s
of the Communications case. Justice Neil Gorsuch,
Decency Act, that shields Attorney Eric Schnapper, right, gestures to Beatriz Gonzalez, second from right, the mother of who was “a little under the
Google, Twitter, Facebook 23-year-old Nohemi Gonzalez, a student killed in the Paris terrorist attacks, and stepfather weather” according to the
and other companies from Jose Hernandez, front row center, speak outside the Supreme Court,Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023, in court and participated in
lawsuits over content post- Washington. Associated Press arguments by phone, sug-
ed on their sites by others. gested the justices send
“We really don’t know isn’t “pitching something Google search, YouTube Gonzalez family’s lawyer, the case back to a lower
about these things. These in particular to the person or Twitter. She asked the Eric Schnapper, whether court. q
are not like the nine great- who’s made the request”
est experts on the internet,” but just a “21st century ver-
Justice Elena Kagan said of sion” of what has been tak-
herself and her colleagues, ing place for a long time,
several of whom smiled at putting together a group
the description. of things the person may
Congress, not the court, want to look at.
should make needed Justice Clarence Thomas
changes to a law passed asked whether YouTube
early in the internet age, uses the same algorithm to
Kagan said. recommend rice pilaf reci-
Justice Brett Kavanaugh, pes and terrorist content.
one of six conservatives, Yes, he was told.
agreed with his liberal Lower courts have broadly
colleague in a case that interpreted Section 230 to
seemed to cut across ideo- protect the industry, which
logical lines. the companies and their
“Isn’t it better,” Kavana- allies say has fueled the
ugh asked, to keep things meteoric growth of the in-
the way they are and “put ternet and encouraged
the burden on Congress to the removal of harmful
change that?” content.
The case before the court But critics argue that the
stems from the death of companies have not done
American college student nearly enough and that
Nohemi Gonzalez in a ter- the law should not block
rorist attack in Paris in 2015. lawsuits over the recom-
Members of her family mendations, generated
were in the courtroom to by computer algorithms,
listen to arguments about that point viewers to more
whether they can sue material that interests them
Google-owned YouTube and keeps them online lon-
for helping the Islamic ger.
State spread its message Any narrowing of their im-
and attract new recruits, in munity could have dra-
violation of the Anti-Terror- matic consequences that
ism Act. could affect every corner
The justices used a vari- of the internet because
ety of examples to probe websites use algorithms to
what YouTube does when sort and filter a mountain of
it recommends videos to data.
viewers, whether content Kagan noted that “ev-
produced by terrorists or ery time anybody looks
cat lovers. Chief Justice at anything on the inter-
John Roberts suggested net, there is an algorithm
what YouTube is doing involved,” whether it’s a