The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday handed two victories to technology and media companies.
The high court ruled that a law allowing lawsuits for aiding terrorism did not apply to ordinary activities of social media companies.
The justices also declined to weigh in on a liability shield for media companies called Section 230. The provision protects companies against derogatory user posts on their platforms.
Those companies include giants such as Google and Twitter. It also relates to media websites for newspapers and TV stations, where users comment on stories and other posted content.
The court’s unanimous decision in Twitter v. Taamneh included a 38-page decision focused on the Anti-Terrorism Act.
Through the law, victims of terrorism can file suits in federal court against anyone who provided assistance to terrorists. In this case, the family of a Jordanian citizen who died in a terrorist attack sued Twitter.
In Gonzalez v. Google, the case alleged that YouTube was at fault for promoting violent militant Islam in videos. YouTube is owned by Google.
A bigger question left undecided involves Section 230, the internet liability law.
“Section 230 is a provision in the 1996 Communications Decency Act that spells out who is legally responsible for content on the internet,” The Wall Street Journal wrote in 2021.
First Amendment advocates have worried that changes to Section 230 would make media companies reluctant to allow users to comment or react to news.
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