The US Government Calls Social Media Companies Accountable For Content On Its Platform

JAKARTA - The administration of US President Joe Biden argued with the US Supreme Court on Wednesday, December 7 that social media giants such as Google in some cases can have responsibility for user content, adopting a stance that could potentially undermine federal laws that protect companies from responsibility.

US Justice Department lawyers made their arguments in a lawsuit filed by the Nohemi Gonzalez family, a 23-year-old American national who was killed in 2015 when Islamist militants opened fire on Paris' bistro where he ate.

The family argues that Google is responsible for Gonzalez's death because YouTube, which the tech giant owns, basically recommends videos by Islamic State groups to some users through its algorithms. Google and YouTube are part of Alphabet Inc.

The case reached the Supreme Court after San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Google, saying they were protected from such claims because of Article 230 of the 1996 Communications Welfare Act.

Article 230 states that social media companies cannot be treated as publishers or speakers of any information provided by other users.

The law has been sharply criticized across the political spectrum. Democrats claim it gave social media companies permission to spread hate speech and misinformation.

Republicans say it allows voice censorship in the far right and other unpopular political opinion, referring to Facebook and Twitter's decision to ban the spread of a New York Post article about Hunter's son, the adult son of Democratic candidate Joe Biden, in October 2020.

The Biden administration, in its filing to the Supreme Court, does not argue that Google should be held accountable in Gonzalez's case and voice strong support for most of the protection of social media company Article 230.

But the DOJ lawyers say that the algorithms used by YouTube and other providers must comply with different surveillance. They asked the Supreme Court to return the case to the 9th Circuit for further review.

Google's lawyers could not be reached for comment on Wednesday night.