Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/22pdf/21-1496_d18f.pdf
Page Number: 28

22 

TWITTER, INC. v. TAAMNEH 

Opinion of the Court 

social-media platforms, which are generally available to the
internet-using  public  with  little  to  no  front-end  screening
by defendants.  In other words, ISIS was able to upload con-
tent  to  the  platforms  and  connect  with  third  parties,  just
like everyone else.  Second, defendants’ recommendation al-
gorithms matched ISIS-related content to users most likely 
to be interested in that content—again, just like any other 
content.  And, third, defendants allegedly knew that ISIS 
was uploading this content to such effect, but took insuffi-
cient steps to ensure that ISIS supporters and ISIS-related
content were removed from their platforms.  Notably, plain-
tiffs  never  allege  that  ISIS  used  defendants’  platforms  to 
plan or coordinate the Reina attack; in fact, they do not al-
lege  that  Masharipov  himself  ever  used  Facebook, 
YouTube, or Twitter. 

None of those allegations suggest that defendants culpa-
bly “associate[d themselves] with”  the Reina attack, “par-
ticipate[d] in it as something that [they] wishe[d] to bring
about,” or sought “by [their] action to make it succeed.”  Nye 
& Nissen, 336 U. S., at 619 (internal quotation marks om-
mitted).  In part, that is because the only affirmative “con-
duct”  defendants  allegedly  undertook  was  creating  their
platforms and setting up their algorithms to display content 
relevant to user inputs and user history.  Plaintiffs never 
allege  that,  after  defendants  established  their  platforms,
they  gave  ISIS  any  special  treatment  or  words  of  encour-
agement.  Nor is there reason to think that defendants se-
lected or took any action at all with respect to ISIS’ content 
(except, perhaps, blocking some of it).13  Indeed, there is not 
even reason to think that defendants carefully screened any
content before allowing users to  upload it onto their plat-
forms.  If anything, the opposite is true: By plaintiffs’ own 

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13 Plaintiffs concede that defendants attempted to remove at least some
ISIS-sponsored accounts and content after they were brought to their at-
tention.