A New York State judge declined a motion to dismiss a lawsuit against different social media companies on Monday, stating that the platforms contributed to the radicalization of a shooter who killed ten people at a Buffalo, New York grocery store in 2022, according to court filings.
Justice Paula Feroleto of the Erie County Supreme Court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, allowing them to move forward with their lawsuit. They contend that social media companies, such as Meta, Alphabet, Reddit, and 4chan, “profit from the racist, antisemitic, and violent material displayed on their platforms to maximize user engagement,” including the time Payton Gendron, then 18 years old, spent viewing that content on those platforms.
The lawsuit, which was filed last year by the 25 survivors of the massacre and a family member of a victim, asserts that the gunman immersed himself in a growing amount of provocative and conspiratorial content on Reddit and YouTube prior to killing ten Black people at a Tops grocery store in 2022. Gendron also reportedly sought advice on the platforms on how to obtain a weapon and body armor for the attack.
The case tests the boundaries of Section 230, a rule that has traditionally protected online platforms from claims relating to user-posted content. Such legal protection has been questioned more and more in instances that have made it all the way to the Supreme Court in recent years as algorithms have gained more authority over the information that people see.
“For too long, social media companies have skirted accountability by hiding behind Section 230, claiming immunity from liability for content they distribute,” anti-gun violence legal advocacy group Everytown Law Executive Director Eric Tirschwell stated. “We must hold accountable every single bad actor that prepared and equipped the shooter to target and kill members of Buffalo’s Black community.”
Reddit said in a statement that hate and violence “have no place” on its website, adding that the company would keep monitoring groups to make sure they are adhering to its policies and that it is continuously assessing ways to get rid of such information.
YouTube representative Jose Castaneda stated that the platform disagrees with Feroleto’s judgment and intends to appeal, while also expressing the social media’s “deepest sympathies” for the victims of the assault and their families.
After entering a guilty plea to charges of hate-motivated terrorism and murder, Gendron was given a life sentence without the possibility of release in February 2023. Federal indictments are also pending against him, and the US Department of Justice announced in January that it intends to pursue the death sentence.
