Defendants Enable ISIS to Recruit Members, Plan and Execute Attacks
SOUTHFIELD, MI- Family members of Nawras Alassaf, who was killed in the ISIS attack at Reina Nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey on January 1, 2017, filed a lawsuit naming Google, Facebook, and Twitter as defendants for providing material support to the terrorist group ISIS. The victim’s brother Mehier Taamneh and nieces Dimana Taamneh, Sara Tammneh and nephew Lawrence Taamneh, filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on July 20, 2017.
Representing the Taamneh family is Keith Altman and Ari Kresch of 1-800-LAW-FIRM of Southfield, Michigan. The lawsuit asserts that the defendants knowingly permitted ISIS to use their platforms for recruiting purposes, spreading propaganda and raising funds to carry-out terror attacks. Through the use of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube (Google), ISIS has acquired over 30,000 foreign recruits, countless donations from supporters and a level of prosperity that would have been unachievable without the aid of the defendants’ social media sites.
A lone gunman is responsible for ending the life of Jordan citizen, Nawras Alassaf along with 38 others celebrating the new year at the Reina Nightclub. ISIS claimed responsibility for the gunman’s actions.
“Social media companies continue to allow terrorists to operate, despite reasonable steps that could be undertaken to stop them. Google, Twitter and Facebook not only continue to let terror groups like ISIS use their sites to tout hate and plan these attacks, they also profit from it,” said Altman. From videos of Westerners being beheaded to other terrorist propaganda, each of the defendants place advertisements on ISIS content—profiting directly from their postings. In at least the case of Google’s YouTube, advertising revenue is shared with ISIS.
Altman and Kresch are also representing victims and families of other ISIS perpetrated or inspired attacks including those in Orlando, Paris and San Bernardino.