A widow in Florida whose husband was killed by an ISIS attack in Jordan is in the process of suing Twitter Inc. for facilitating the terrorist organization’s “explosive growth,” Reuters reports.
Tamara Fields, the woman suing, claims in her lawsuit that the website consciously provides ISIS a means of “spreading extremist propaganda, raising funds and attracting new recruits.”
Fields’ lawsuit cites a quote from FBI Director James Comey, who refers to ISIS’ use of Twitter as a way to “sell murder” and “crowd source terrorism.” The lawsuit also includes an image used by ISIS militants containing the Twitter icon with the ISIS flag overlaid on top.
According to the lawsuit, ISIS has more than 70,000 Twitter accounts, 79 of which are “official.” The suit also notes that on average ISIS posts 90 tweets per minute.
In response to Fields’ lawsuit, Twitter released a statement reading, “While we believe the lawsuit is without merit, we are deeply saddened to hear of this family’s terrible loss.”
The company stated in its Transparency Report that it removed 42 percent of overall government removal requests. None of the 25 removal requests submitted by the United States were approved, however.
“Without Twitter, the explosive growth of ISIS over the last few years into the most feared terrorist group in the world would not have been possible,” Fields’ lawsuit claims.