Gonzalez v. Google LLC

Background

The family of Nohemi Gonzalez, a U.S. citizen killed in the 2015 ISIS attacks in Paris, sued Google over ISIS use of YouTube. They accused Google of being directly and secondarily liable under a federal terrorism statute that lets victims sue for injuries caused by international terrorism. The District Court dismissed the complaint, the plaintiffs appealed, and the Ninth Circuit largely affirmed, finding most claims blocked by a law that can shield websites but allowing narrow revenue-sharing claims to proceed.

Reasoning

The Court agreed to review how the Ninth Circuit applied the law that can shield websites. The plaintiffs did not challenge the Ninth Circuit’s separate rulings about revenue sharing. The Court explained that the plaintiffs’ secondary-liability allegations closely match those in the Court’s companion Twitter case, where the Court found such allegations insufficient. The Ninth Circuit had also held the complaint did not plausibly allege a required agreement for conspiracy or the necessary intent for a direct liability claim. Given those points, the Court declined to decide the website-immunity question and instead vacated and sent the case back for reconsideration in light of the Twitter decision.

Real world impact

The case returns to the Ninth Circuit for further review under the Court’s recent Twitter ruling. The Supreme Court’s action is not a final decision on whether websites are immune from these terrorism claims, and the outcome could change after the appeals court reconsiders the complaint under the Court’s guidance.