Lawyers Tell Sputnik What's Behind Rights Group's Lawsuit Against Facebook

Lawyers have filed a $1 billion lawsuit against Facebook. An Israeli rights group says that the social networking company allowed the Palestinian militant group Hamas to use the platform to plan attacks which killed or wounded five Americans in Israel, the West Bank and Jerusalem. Sputnik discussed the lawsuit with the plaintiffs' Israeli Counsel.

Speaking to Sputnik about the case, Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, the Israeli Counsel for the plaintiffs, explained what anti-terrorism laws the social networking company allegedly violated, and why the lawsuit, launched by the Israeli Legal Advocacy Group, is focused on Hamas.

Saying that Hamas (which is designated a terrorist group in Israel, United States and the European Union) knowingly uses Facebook as a tool for terrorism, Darshan-Leitner emphasized that despite the fact that the law "prohibits any American citizen or American company [from providing] services of any type to a designated [terrorist] organization…Facebook provided them with social media services, and are therefore liable for the results of the actions by Hamas."

The lawsuit is aimed at compensating the families of four Americans who were killed, as well as one who was wounded in a series of targetted attacks in Israel, the West Bank and Jerusalem.

Asked why the group chose Hamas, rather than some other group such as Daesh (ISIS), which is universally recognized as a terrorist organization, Darshan-Leitner explained that it comes down to the fact that Facebook as well as Twitter have both actively engaged in fighting ISIS. 

Unfortunately, according to the lawyer, "neither of these companies is doing anything against Hamas. Hamas for some reason is totally ignored; you complain, you bring it up [before the companies], and they simply don't care. This is why we concentrated on Hamas."

Ultimately, Darshan-Leitner suggested, the lawsuit organizers' chief concern is that "Facebook connects those who cause murders, those who incite to kill Jews, those who have knowledge on how to kill and teach on Facebook how to carry out stabbing attacks against Israelis, to those who potentially want to do it; those who are dreaming to go out and stab Jews. They make the connection. They basically recruit people that without the instructions or without the incitement may have not gone out and carried out the attacks."

"And one can see it that young people  - young Palestinians and Arabs, actually follow these instructions – they do put poison on the knife before they go and stab; they do attack Jews the way they are taught on Facebook," she added.

For his part, internet law expert Yair Cohen suggested that "the main issue is whether Facebook is simply a publisher — a neutral platform equivalent to a graffiti wall, where people can write or post or create discussions regardless of Facebook's views. However, as I understand it, the lawsuit will say that Facebook actively assists the inciters to find people who are interested in acting upon hateful messages and suggestions. So the issue is whether Facebook is actually playing an active role, and facilitating groups and facilitating discussions, and of course whether Facebook has the ability to effectively monitor what is being carried out inside that platform."

"We know that Facebook is monitoring, and that it does have facilities to monitor," the legal expert noted. "We also know from evidence submitted previously that Facebook chose on a number of cases to ignore reports about alleged terrorist activities."

Ultimately, Cohen suggested, this "is an interesting case and it might even succeed."