Supreme Court to Decide if Tech Companies Can be Held Liable for User-Generated Content

The Supreme Court of the United States is set to hear two cases this week that could have a major impact on how tech companies handle user-generated content. The cases, Gonzalez v. Google and Twitter v. Taamneh, will determine whether tech companies can be held liable for content posted by users.

The first case, Gonzalez v. Google, centers around YouTube’s role in the 2015 Paris attacks. The plaintiff, Nohemi Gonzalez, was an American college student killed in the attacks. Her family alleges that YouTube bears some responsibility for the killing by recommending videos that spread violent Islamist ideology.

The second case, Twitter v. Taamneh, involves a lawsuit alleging that Twitter provided material support to international terrorism by hosting terrorist content.

The outcome of these cases could have far-reaching implications for tech companies and social media platforms. If the Supreme Court rules in favor of the plaintiffs, tech companies could be held liable for recommending content to their users or for hosting terrorist content. This could lead to an expansion of apps and websites’ legal risk for hosting or promoting content.

The Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling in both cases later this year. Until then, tech companies and social media platforms will be closely watching the outcome of these cases.