Victims' Families Sue Meta for $1 Billion Over Oct. 7 Hamas Videos
Translated & summarized from NEWSru Israel by baba
Families of victims from the October 7th attacks have filed a class-action lawsuit against Meta, seeking over 4 billion shekels for allegedly failing to remove Hamas propaganda videos. The suit claims Meta's platforms were used to spread graphic content and enable terror. The court has encouraged the parties to engage in mediation.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Families of Oct. 7 victims sued Meta for over 4 billion shekels in Tel Aviv District Court.
- The lawsuit accuses Meta of failing to remove graphic Hamas videos and enabling terror propaganda.
- Plaintiffs cite instances of discovering family deaths and hostage situations through Meta's platforms.
- The families demand better filtering, warnings, and real-time blocking of traumatic content.
- This follows previous lawsuits against Facebook by Israeli victims of terror.
Families of victims and survivors of the October 7th Hamas attacks have filed a class-action lawsuit against Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, seeking over 4 billion shekels (approximately $1 billion USD). The lawsuit, filed in the Tel Aviv District Court, accuses Meta of failing to prevent the spread of graphic videos depicting murders, kidnappings, and abuse, thereby enabling Hamas propaganda.
One plaintiff, Mor Beida, discovered her grandmother Bracha Levinson had been killed in her home in Kibbutz Nir Oz when she saw a video terrorists filmed on Levinson's phone and posted to her Facebook page. Despite numerous complaints, the page was blocked only hours later, and the video was removed a day after that. Other families reported witnessing their relatives being taken hostage in real-time via social media.
According to attorney Gali Kerner, who represents the families, Meta possessed the technological means to block such content but failed to implement them. The plaintiffs are demanding the implementation of filtering mechanisms, warnings for traumatic content, and real-time algorithmic blocking.
This is not the first legal action against Meta concerning Hamas. In 2015, an organization called Shurat HaDin filed a class-action suit in New York on behalf of thousands of Israelis, demanding the removal of pages inciting terrorism. Later, families of Hamas attack victims filed a $1 billion lawsuit in the U.S., alleging Facebook provided a platform for Hamas to plan and incite attacks.
During a court session this week, the parties were encouraged to enter mediation and pursue settlement talks.
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