The families of three victims of the Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando have filed a lawsuit against three tech giants, alleging they provided “material support” to the Islamic State militant group, Fox News reported Monday.
The families of Tevin Crosby, Javier Jorge-Reyes and Juan Ramon Guerrero filed a complaint in the eastern district of Michigan against Facebook, Twitter and Google (YouTube) for allegedly providing platforms that influenced the radicalization of gunman Omar Mateen.
The June 12 shooting at the nightclub targeted the LGBTQ community, leaving 49 people dead and 53 wounded. It was the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history. During his negotiations with police before dying in a shootout, Mateen said the attack on Pulse was in protest against U.S. airstrikes on ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria. Mateen was not a member of the Islamic Stae, but pledged his allegiance to the group.
“Without Defendants Twitter, Facebook, and Google (YouTube), the explosive growth of ISIS over the last few years into the most feared terrorist group in the world would not have been possible,” the lawsuit alleges, according to Fox News.
The lawsuit takes aim at a specific part of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which protects companies like Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and more from being held responsible for speech made by users on their platforms. Though companies like Twitter have worked to suspend accounts that appear affiliated with or supportive of the Islamic State, federal law protects the tech giant from being held accountable for such communications in the first place.
USA Today reports the three families are represented by the same lawyer who also represents the family of California college student Nohemi Gonzalez, who was killed in the terrorist attacks in Paris last year. Gonzalez’s family is also suing Twitter, Facebook and Google.
The Huffington Post reached out to Twitter, Facebook and YouTube for comment and will update this post accordingly. Read more about the details of the lawsuit at Fox News.
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