Widow of American Military Contractor Killed by ISIS Files Lawsuit Against Twitter
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- The widow of an American military contractor killed in Jordan by ISIS last year filed a lawsuit Wednesday against Twitter, claiming that the San Francisco-based social media company allows terrorist groups to use its site to spread extremist propaganda.
Widow Tamara Fields, of Florida, and her attorneys filed the complaint on behalf of her deceased husband, Lloyd "Carl" Fields Jr., in the U.S. District Court Northern District of California.
Her husband was killed on November 9, 2015 in Amman, Jordan in a terrorist attack for which the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) later claimed responsibility, according to the complaint.
Lloyd "Carl" Fields Jr. was in Amman training police officers with the private military contractor DynCorp International when he was killed. Four others were also killed by gunfire in the attack.
The complaint alleges that as of late 2014, ISIS had an estimated 70,000 Twitter accounts and it further claims that the social media company is facilitating terrorist recruiting by allowing ISIS to continue to use its platform.
View the full pdf complaint here.
Last month Twitter changed its policies making it easier to delete accounts that promote violence, with Twitter officials stating that "we will continue to take action on accounts that cross the line into abuse."
Twitter offered its condolences to the widow but have said that the lawsuit filed is "meritless."
The widow is seeking a trial by jury, according to court documents.
On Thursday, the Islamic State group claimed responsibility, also via Twitter postings, for the deadly attacks in Jakarta, Indonesia.
By Hannah Albarazi - Follow her on Twitter.