A War of the Words: Assessing Liability for Online Incitement of Terrorism

Abstract

Social media posts and terrorism have become inextricably linked in public analysis of recent terror incidents. Terrorist organizations rely on the internet to recruit new members, incite violence, and publicize their actions. Despite the significant reliance of terrorist organizations on social media, social media companies have inconsistently and infrequently attempted to address this usage. At present, there is insufficient domestic regulation of terrorist presence on social media, and American law struggles to adapt from the print medium to a flexible and responsive First Amendment jurisprudence of the internet age. By taking inspiration from recent German and French regulation of online terrorist activity, the United States might be able to address some of these shortcomings. The government could limit terrorist organization presence online by (1) re-defining ‘hate speech’ to include language that incites imminent terrorist action and (2) instituting a compliance regime that regulates social media companies as internet platforms. This paper proposes a course of action that could result in an online environment that stifles, rather than fosters, terrorist organization activity moving forward.

Keywords: Terrorism, Internet, Social media, First Amendment, Technology, Internet law, Social media regulation, Communications law, Communications Decency Act

JEL Classification: K14, K23, K29, K42