The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has delved into two recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings, Twitter v. Taamneh and Gonzalez v. Google, and analyzed their import for the work of journalism — not just the internet.
At issue is the question of what constitutes “aiding and abetting” of terrorism under JASTA, the federal anti-terrorism law.
As Reporters Committee writer Gabe Rottman notes, “journalists cover terrorists and terrorism. And, they do so with ‘generalized knowledge that coverage of the newsworthy activities of terrorists, like coverage of any other newsworthy activity, publicizes that activity,'” as the JASTA statute says. Could that make them liable for prosecution?