Judge rules Reddit and YouTube must face lawsuits claiming they enabled Buffalo grocery mass shooter

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: NBC News/Reuters

March 18, 2024, 11:31 PM EDT


Reddit and Google’s YouTube were ordered by a New York state judge to face lawsuits seeking to hold them responsible for helping enable the avowed white supremacist who killed 10 Black people in 2022 at a Buffalo, New York, grocery store.

Justice Paula Feroleto of the Erie County Supreme Court said 25 plaintiffs could try to prove that the social media platforms were designed to addict and radicalize users and gave Payton Gendron knowledge of the equipment and training needed for his racially motivated mass shooting at Tops Friendly Markets.

The 25 plaintiffs included store employees and customers who witnessed the May 14, 2022, shooting, and the son of one of those killed. Gendron was 18 at the time.

In seeking dismissals, Reddit and YouTube said they merely hosted third-party content and were not liable under a federal law governing such content, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, or the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment. But the judge said the plaintiffs could try to show Reddit and YouTube owed them a duty because their platforms were defective and led to injuries.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/judge-rules-reddit-youtube-must-face-lawsuits-claiming-enabled-buffalo-rcna144001

[bucolic_frolic]

1. "addict and radicalize" is a term we might hear again

Bait you to draw you in. Abuse your sense of logic, common sense, morality, everything you think you know or stand for, and then some. All so the companies can make money. Interesting case to watch.

[azureblue]

2. Great!

and this ruling opens the door to sue Trump, the GOP and any other right wing organization.. But of course the judge didn't think of that......

[moreland01]

3. With a far better SCOTUS than what we currently have . . .

I'd love to see this debated.

[wolfie001]

4. What about Fox News and OAN/News Max????

That's exactly where the posters/incels are gleaning their under-developed brains.

[BumRushDaShow]

6. The shooter was 18 at the time

and I don't know if those GenZs really "watch cable news" (or much of any news at all except what might pop up in a social media feed somewhere). His father was a Democrat and mother a Republican and both state civil servants. Apparently his crap came from places like Discord and other RW internet chat sites.

[wolfie001]

8. $787.5 million judgement against Murdoch for the election lies coverage probably.....

....set the table for ALL of those internet chat sites. They could site those lies and upload Sean Insanity literally lying to his viewers. "See, here is the video" and stuff like that. They're continuing this sh%t with this election too. Russia is involved again.

[twodogsbarking]

5. Google Maps may have given him directions. Did he stop for gas?

[FakeNoose]

7. You want direct responsibility, go after the people who sold him gunz and ammo

I'm not sure if they could ever prove that Reddit and Youtube are directly responsible. Those videos get millions of hits, but one guy goes crazy and starts killing people? Ehhhh ... Go after the gunz.