The lawyer representing the victims of the ISIS-linked 2016 Berlin truck attack has announced plans to sue Facebook for 1 billion USD because they have not done enough to stop terrorists communicating over the platform.
During the deadly attack, failed asylum seeker and ISIS terrorist Anis Amri ploughed a lorry into shoppers at a Christmas market in the German capital Berlin on 19th December 2016.
Two years after the terror attack, in which 12 people were killed and over 70 were injured, lawyer Andreas Schulz, 67, plans to sue the social media giants for a whopping 1 billion USD (789 million GBP) in damages.
Schulz said: “Facebook has failed to prevent foreign terrorist organisations from using their social media platform. ISIS radicalises and recruits suicide attackers over Facebook.”
According to Schulz, Tunisian national Amri used Facebook to communicate to other radical Islamists.
Schulz said: “The FBI has evaluated Amri’s Facebook account. Clearly, his radicalisation can be recognised in the communication. Facebook has failed to delete or stop it.”
Next year, the German lawyer plans to start a case at the regional court in San Francisco, California, as the social media giants are located just 31 miles south of the city in Menlo Park, Palo Alto.
The victims of the 2016 Berlin truck attack are not the first to sue Facebook.
Relatives of the 49 victims killed inside a gay club in Orlando, Florida, on 12th June 2016 also tried to sue Facebook, Twitter and Google.
They claimed that the three internet giants did not do enough to stop jihadist propaganda online. Their attempts have so far proved fruitless.
However, Schulz believes that he has a better chance of winning in court and wants to at least get his case heard in front of a jury.
So far the victims and relatives have already received damages from the German authorities.
Over 170 people, including those injured as well as the victims’ relatives, have received 3.8 million EUR (3.4 million GBP) combined so far.
Depending on the severity of their injuries, 21 victims are receiving impairment benefits of between 141 and 736 EUR (127 and 664 GBP) a month.
After perpetrating the Christmas market attack, Amri travelled through the Netherlands, Belgium and France to Italy.
On 23rd December at around 3am, two Italian police officers stopped Amri, who pulled out a gun and shot one of the officers in the shoulder. The other cop shot Amri dead.
Story By: Koen Berghuis, Sub-Editor: Michael Leidig, Agency: Central European News
