Appeals Court Rules Twitter Not Responsible for ISIS Murders

A San Francisco federal appeals court ruled Twitter is not responsible for the ISIS murder of two Americans.

According to SFGate, “Lawyers for the widows of the two men argued in their lawsuit that Twitter had been essential to the emergence of the terror group and bore some responsibility,” for a 2015 ISIS attack on two Americans, former police officers’ Lloyd Fields Jr. and James Creach, in Jordan.

“Without Twitter, the explosive growth of ISIS over the last few years into the most-feared terrorist group in the world would not have been possible,” claimed the lawsuit, which was filed by the wives of the two victims, Tamara Fields and Heather Creach.

In their lawsuit, Fields and Creach showed alleged ISIS activity on the social network as evidence of its contribution towards the growth and maintenance of ISIS, however, the court ruled 3-0 that there was no connection between the two.

“At most, the (suit) establishes that Twitter’s alleged provision of material support to ISIS facilitated the organization’s growth and ability to plan and execute terrorist acts,” declared Judge Milan Smith. “But the (suit) does not articulate any connection between Twitter’s provision of this aid and (the women’s) injuries [from their husbands’ deaths].”

In a statement, Fields and Creach’s lawyer, Joshua Arisohn expressed disappointment over the court ruling, proclaiming, “Twitter knowingly provided social media accounts to ISIS, and ISIS used those accounts to recruit thousands of new members, to fundraise millions of dollars and to spread its vile propaganda around the world.”

Twitter has previously been sued for allegedly allowing ISIS activity on their platform.

Last year, the family members of three American citizens killed by ISIS filed a lawsuit against Twitter, while victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida, joined a federal lawsuit which claimed Twitter and other social networks allowed the shooter to be radicalized.

In 2016, a lawsuit also claimed Twitter’s direct messages served as a satellite phone for members of the terrorist organization.