Skip to main content

New lawsuit accusing Facebook of enabling terrorism in Israel seeks $1B in damages

A group of Israeli and American citizens is suing Facebook to the tune of $1 billion for allegedly facilitating fatal Palestinian militant attacks on their relatives.

The victims include four Israeli-U.S. dual nationals, and one visiting U.S. citizen, who were killed in a range of attacks that took place in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and the occupied West Bank between 2014 and 2016, reports Reuters.

Recommended Videos

The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York accuses Facebook of assisting the operations of Hamas militants. The suit claims Facebook “knowingly provided material support and resources to Hamas … facilitat(ing) this terrorist group’s ability to communicate, recruit members, plan and carry out attacks, and strike fear in its enemies.”

Hamas has thus far accepted responsibility for only one of the attacks, but the plaintiffs’ lawyer claims to have expert assessments linking the Palestinian organization to the other killings.

Hamas, which assumed administrative control of the Gaza Strip in 2006, is designated a terrorist group by the United States. Consequently, the private lawsuit was brought under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1992, which prohibits American businesses from providing material support to terrorist groups and their assailants.

The lawsuit comes in the wake of Israeli security minister Gilad Erdan’s recent comments against Facebook in which he labeled the social network a “monster” that hinders terror investigations in the country. In a televised interview, Erdan called on Israelis everywhere to lobby the platform, and its founder Mark Zuckerberg, to change its policies in regards to extremist content.

Facebook’s response to the lawsuit recalls the rather vague, indirect, statement it released in regards to Erdan’s allegations. This time around, the company told Reuters that although it does not comment on “any issue currently subject to legal procedure,” it wants “people to feel safe” using Facebook.

“There is no place for content encouraging violence, direct threats, terrorism or hate speech on Facebook,” stated a Facebook representative in Israel. “We have a set of Community Standards … and we urge people to use our reporting tools if they find content that they believe violates our standards so we can investigate and take swift action.”

This isn’t the first time Facebook has been targeted by family members who have lost loved ones in terrorist attacks. In June, a French citizen whose daughter was killed in the Paris terror attacks filed a lawsuit accusing Facebook, Twitter, and Google accusing each of those defendants of enabling the Islamic State (IS).

Reynaldo Gonzalez’s suit claimed the companies “knowingly permitted” IS to use its tools to attract members, raise funds, and disseminate “extremist propaganda.”

Saqib Shah
Saqib Shah is a Twitter addict and film fan with an obsessive interest in pop culture trends. In his spare time he can be…
Bluesky finally adds a feature many had been waiting for
A blue sky with clouds.

Bluesky has been making a lot of progress in recent months by simplifying the process to sign up while at the same time rolling out a steady stream of new features.

As part of those continuing efforts, the social media app has just announced that users can now send direct messages (DMs).

Read more
Reddit just achieved something for the first time in its 20-year history
The Reddit logo.

Reddit’s on a roll. The social media platform has just turned a profit for the first time in its 20-year history, and now boasts a record 97.2 million daily active users, marking a year-over-year increase of 47%. A few times during the quarter, the figure topped 100 million, which Reddit CEO and co-founder Steve Huffman said in a letter to shareholders had been a “long-standing milestone” for the site.

The company, which went public in March, announced the news in its third-quarter earnings results on Tuesday.

Read more
Worried about the TikTok ban? This is how it might look on your phone
TikTok splash screen on an Android phone.

The US Supreme Court has decided to uphold a law that would see TikTok banned in the country on January 19. Now, the platform has issued an official statement, confirming that it will indeed shut down unless it gets some emergency relief from the outgoing president.

“Unless the Biden Administration immediately provides a definitive statement to satisfy the most critical service providers assuring non-enforcement, unfortunately TikTok will be forced to go dark on January 19,” said the company soon after the court’s verdict.
So, what does going dark mean?
So, far, there is no official statement on what exactly TikTok means by “going dark.” There is a lot of speculation out there on how exactly the app or website will look once TikTok shutters in the US.

Read more