The Biden administration argued in the US Supreme Court on Wednesday that social media giants like Google could be responsible for user content in some cases, taking a stance that could potentially undermine a federal law protecting companies from liability.
Lawyers for the US Department of Justice were arguing in the high-profile lawsuit brought by the family of Nohemi Gonzalez, a 23-year-old American citizen who was killed in 2015 when Islamist militants opened fire on the Parisian bistro where she was eating.
That’s what the family argued Google was partly responsible for Gonzalez’s death because youtube, owned by the tech giant, has essentially recommended Islamic State group videos to some users via its algorithms. Google and YouTube are part of Alphabet (GOOGL.O).
The case reached the Supreme Court after the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco sided with Google, saying they were protected from such lawsuits under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996.
Section 230 states that social media companies cannot be treated as publishers or spokespersons of information provided by other users.
The law has been harshly criticized across the political spectrum. Democrats claim it gives social media companies a pass for spreading hate speech and misinformation.
Republicans say it allows censorship of voices on the right and other politically unpopular opinions, citing decisions by Facebook and Twitter circulating a New York Post article about the son of then-Democratic candidate Joe Biden’s adult son, Hunter , to ban in October 2020 .
The Biden administration, in its filing with the Supreme Court, did not argue that Google should be held liable in the Gonzalez case and strongly advocated most Section 230 protections for social media companies.
However, attorneys for the DOJ said the algorithms used by YouTube and other providers should be subject to a different scrutiny. They asked the Supreme Court to return the case to the 9th Circuit for further review.
Google’s attorneys could not be reached for comment Wednesday night.
© Thomson Reuters 2022
