DETROIT – Social media and terrorism were the subject of a hearing Wednesday morning in Detroit federal court.
A lawsuit claims Google, Facebook and Twitter need to be held accountable for allowing ISIS and other groups to use their platforms to generate terror attacks.
ISIS recruits and sends messages daily to its jihadi soldiers using social media. A lawsuit is claiming the social media companies allow it to happen and look the other way, even though aiding and abetting terrorism is against the law.
A Metro Detroit attorney wants to put an end to it.
The case centers on the Orlando Pulse nightclub terror attack, now the second-worst mass shooting on American soil after the Las Vegas attack.
Omar Mateen, 29, of Fort Pierce, Florida, shot and killed 49 people, called 911 and pledged his allegiance to ISIS before the SWAT teams tracked him down and killed him.
The families of a dozen Orlando victims, including one from Michigan, hired attorney Keith Altman to go after Google, Facebook and Twitter.
"They seem to be held accountable to stop child porn or their sites, so why can't they stop terrorism from being used on their sites?" Altman asked.
High-priced lawyers from New York and California came to court Wednesday asking Judge David Lawson to throw out Altman's case. They argued Altman can't directly link ISIS and Mateen's radicalization to social media.
They said there's no proof social media played any part in the Orlando attack, as the law requires.
Altman admits he is likely to lose the case in Detroit, and he already has appeals ready. He said it's a case of the real world getting ahead of an old law and antiquated legal precedent.
"These companies act with impunity because they have no fear," Altman said. "They believe they will not be held liable, no matter what happens on their accounts. It's just a 'get out of jail free' card, and that's unacceptable."
You can watch Rod Meloni's full story in the video posted above.