U.S. Supreme Court justices on Tuesday expressed uncertainty over whether to narrow a legal shield protecting internet companies from a wide array of lawsuits in a major case involving YouTube and the family of an American student fatally shot in a 2015 rampage by Islamist militants in Paris.
The justices heard arguments in an appeal by the family of Nohemi Gonzalez, a 23-year-old student at California State University, Long Beach who was studying in France, of a lower court’s dismissal of a lawsuit against Google LLC-owned YouTube. Google and YouTube are part of Alphabet Inc.
In dismissing the lawsuit, the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals relied on a federal law called Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which protects internet companies from liability for content posted by their users. This case marks the first time the Supreme Court is examining the scope of Section 230.
The justices asked questions that reflected their concerns about the potential consequences of limiting immunity for internet companies – or figuring out where to draw that line -while also revealing skepticism that these businesses should be shielded for certain types of harmful or defamatory content.
“These are not the nine greatest experts on the internet,” liberal Justice Elena Kagan said of the members of the court, eliciting laughter in the courtroom.
The family claimed that YouTube, through its computer algorithms, unlawfully recommended videos by the Islamic State militant group, which claimed responsibility for the Paris attacks that killed 130 people, to certain users. The recommendations helped spread Islamic State’s message and recruit jihadist fighters, the lawsuit said.
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