Facebook sued for US$1b for alleged use of medium for terror

[JERUSALEM] Lawyers filed a US$1 billion lawsuit against Facebook Inc, alleging it allowed the Palestinian militant Hamas group to use it as a medium to carry out attacks that killed four Americans and wounded one in Israel, the West Bank and Jerusalem.

"Facebook has knowingly provided material support and resources to Hamas in the form of Facebook's online social network platform and communication services," making it liable for the violence against the five Americans, according to the lawsuit sent to Bloomberg by the office of the Israeli lawyer on the case, Nitsana Darshan-Leitner.

"Simply put, Hamas uses Facebook as a tool for engaging in terrorism," it said.

Hamas is considered a terrorist organization by the US, European Union and Israel. The suit said the group used Facebook to share operational and tactical information with members and followers, posting notices of upcoming demonstrations, road closures, Israeli military actions and instructions to operatives to carry out the attacks.

In an emailed statement, Facebook said it doesn't comment on legal proceedings to the press.

Mushir al-Masri, a senior Hamas leader, said by phone that "suing Facebook clearly shows the American policy of fighting freedom of the press and expression" and is evidence of US prejudice against the group and "its just cause."

The suit was submitted to the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on July 10. Plaintiffs include the families of Yaakov Naftali Fraenkel, a 16-year-old abducted and murdered in June 2014 after hitching a ride in the West Bank, and 3-year-old Chaya Braun, whose stroller was struck intentionally by a Palestinian driver in October 2014 at a train station in Jerusalem.

In February 2015, a jury at the same court concluded that the Palestinian Authority and Palestine Liberation Organization aided in six attacks on Americans in Israel more than a decade ago, and ordered them to pay US$218.5 million to the victims and their families. The damages were tripled under a US anti-terrorism law.

The Palestinian bodies claimed they weren't responsible for the unapproved acts of low-level employees who participated in the attacks.

BLOOMBERG