A New York judge has decided that a small number of social media companies have to deal with lawsuits from people who survived the Buffalo grocery store shooting in 2022, which resulted in the deaths of 10 individuals.
A judge from the Erie Supreme Court has ruled that social media companies such as YouTube, Meta, and Reddit are obligated to deal with lawsuits filed against them, along with many other defendants, for their involvement in facilitating Payton Gendron, the individual who carried out a racially motivated shooting at a Tops Friendly Markets on May 14, 2022.
Erie Supreme Court Judge Paula L Feroleto stated that the court must base its decision on the claims in the complaint rather than the 'facts' presented by the defendants in their arguments during oral debate. in her order rejecting the defendants’ motions to dismiss.
The individuals filing the lawsuit, including relatives of the victims and survivors of the shooting, assert that the platforms carelessly, ineffectively, and detrimentally designed 'products' that drove Gendron to the materials, making them accountable based on product liability theories.
Gendron was sentenced to life in prison last year after pleading guilty in November 2022 to state murder and domestic terrorism charges. The plaintiffs brought the lawsuit against the social media platforms last year, arguing that they gave the shooter a platform to take in racist and violent views.
Feroleto disregarded claims made by the social media companies that they only functioned as message boards for content from third parties. The defendants argue that as a result, they are not accountable under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act or the First Amendment.
“The Court has decided that the complaint sufficiently presents viable reasons to move ahead at this stage of the legal process,” the order declares.
Everytown, an advocacy group advocating for gun reform and one of the plaintiffs, expressed their satisfaction with the judge’s decision in a statement.
“For too long, social media companies have evaded responsibility by using Section 230 to claim immunity from liability for the content they distribute,” said Executive Director of Everytown Law Eric Tirschwell said.
“We need to hold every single wrongdoer responsible who prepared and equipped the shooter to target and kill members of Buffalo’s Black community,” he added.
A representative of Reddit confirmed that they will challenge the judge’s ruling.
“Hate and violence have no place on Reddit. Our sitewide policies explicitly prohibit content that promotes hate based on identity or vulnerability, and also content that encourages, glorifies, incites, or calls for violence or physical harm against an individual or group of people,” the representative stated.
The Hill has reached out to Google and Meta and for comment.
