Twitter’s platform can be used by anybody, just as long as you play nicely within Twitter’s rules, the social network has no reason to not allow you onto it. However some have begged to disagree, such as this widow of an American killed in Jordan from an ISIS attack who claims that the social media platform has allowed ISIS to have a “voice”.The woman in question is Tamara Fields. Her husband was killed last November in an attack on the police training center in Amman. She has also recently filed a lawsuit against Twitter, alleging that despite knowing that ISIS had accounts on Twitter, the social network allowed them to remain on it, which gave them power to spread propaganda and raise money to attract new recruits.
According to the lawsuit, it reads, “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.” Twitter has since responded by saying, “While we believe the lawsuit is without merit, we are deeply saddened to hear of this family’s terrible loss. Violent threats and the promotion of terrorism deserve no place on Twitter and, like other social networks, our rules make that clear.”
We suppose we can see what Fields is coming from, but it seems that experts think that she will most likely be facing an uphill battle, although the upside is that it will force social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook to take a tougher stance on posts that might be related to terrorist groups.
That being said, Fields isn’t alone in trying to rid the internet of ISIS’ presence. Hacking group Anonymous have also attempted to try and take down as many ISIS-related Twitter accounts as possible, and have even appealed to the general public to try and help them.