Feb 20, 2023

New York Times Speaks with Hany Farid About Gonzalez v. Google

From New York Times (Paywall)

Supreme Court to Hear Case That Targets a Legal Shield of Tech Giants

By David McCabe

Nohemi Gonzalez, a 23-year-old California college student, was studying abroad in Paris in November 2015 when she was among the 130 people killed in a coordinated series of terrorist attacks throughout the city.

The next year, her father sued Google and other tech companies. He accused the firms of spreading content that radicalized users into becoming terrorists, and said they were therefore legally responsible for the harm inflicted on Ms. Gonzalez’s family. Her mother, stepfather and brothers eventually joined the lawsuit, too...

The Supreme Court case “can have an impact on how those companies do business and how we interact with the internet, too,” said Hany Farid, a professor at the school of information at the University of California, Berkeley. He filed a brief with the Supreme Court supporting the Gonzalez family members who are suing Google.

Read more about the court case here.

Professor Hany Farid has a joint appointment in electrical engineering & computer sciences and the School of Information at UC Berkeley.

Last updated:

February 24, 2023