“Good Jew” Hashtag Sparks Lawsuit Against Twitter
If you visit my mentions on Twitter, it would take you long to see that there are a lot of racist trolls on the popular social media site. But hey, that’s to be expected when you’re a professional racism chaser with a website and a penchant for the telling of uncomfortable truths about “certain people” among us. Let’s face it: Social media sites like Twitter and Facebook have become quite the rest-stop of choice for knuckle-draggers with nothing to do but spread their hate. That said, it isn’t surprising to see that somebody sued for the onslaught of racist vitriol aimed at one group: Jews. Often criticized for being overly sensitive, this is one instance where I say they have every right to seek redress from the social media giant. Apparently there are some are perturbed by a recent “Good Jew” hashtag, and thus a lawsuit against Twitter has emerged in France.
This from HuffPo:
French Jewish students are to sue Twitter for £32m for failing to release the identities of users who posted pictures of ashes and made Holocaust jokes and death threats under the hashtag #UnBonJuif (a good Jew).
The Union of Jewish French Students are suing the social network in a lawsuit filed with a Paris correctional tribunal, for failing to honour a court ruling to identify users who posted the anti-Semitic comments, according to AFP.
UEJF President Jonathan Hayoun told the French news agency: “Twitter is playing the indifference card and does not respect the ruling.
“They have resolved to protect the anonymity of the authors of these tweets and have made themselves accomplices to racists and anti-Semites.”
The students have said they will give any money won in the lawsuit to Holocaust charities.
Twitter argues that as an American company it is protected by the First amendment, but a French court ruled on January 24 that Twitter must identify those who tweeted, and that the internet users who posted from France are subject to the country’s hate speech laws.
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