Pulse suit may move to Orlando

A federal judge in Michigan hinted Wednesday that a lawsuit filed by family members of three men killed in the Pulse nightclub attack might move to Orlando federal court.

The family members sued Twitter, Facebook and Google, claiming that the social-media companies allowed the Islamic State to post propaganda and push its agenda, and saying that they are seeking justice for their loved ones.

The suit was filed in a federal court in eastern Michigan. But U.S. District Judge David M. Lawson issued an order Wednesday saying he wants to hear from the parties about where the case should be heard.

An attorney for the families recently said he will soon file a new complaint in the case, with new plaintiffs. The three defendant companies have already indicated they will ask the court to dismiss the lawsuit.

Lawson noted that the lawsuit mentions events that occurred mostly in Orlando, which usually means the lawsuit could proceed in the Orlando district, the Middle District of Florida.

The suit was filed on behalf of the families of Tevin Crosby, 25; Javier JorgeReyes, 40; and Juan Guerrero, 22. Crosby was a Michigan native, and Jorge-Reyes has a sister who lives there. The three men were among the 49 people killed when Omar Mateen opened fire June 12 in the nightclub. In conversations with police that night, Mateen pledged his allegiance to ISIS.

The lawsuit alleges that IS is “dependent on Twitter, YouTube [which Google owns] and Facebook to terrorize,” and that the group uses the socialmedia platforms to recruit and spread its message.

The lawsuit mentions that Mateen used Facebook in May to search for information on the married couple who shot and killed 14 people at a holiday party Dec. 2, 2015, in San Bernardino.

The same lawyers representing the Pulse families also filed a similar suit on behalf of the family of Nohemi Gonzalez, an American killed in the November 2015 ISIS attacks in Paris. That case has not yet been resolved, but the plaintiffs recently dropped Twitter and Facebook as defendants.

Facebook spokeswoman Genevieve Grdina previously said the company does not allow users to post content that advocates terrorism, nor does it allow any posts from people it considers known terrorists.

“We take swift action to remove this content when it’s reported to us,” she said. “We sympathize with the victims and their families.”

A Twitter spokesman declined to comment. The company last year announced an initiative with YouTube, Facebook and Microsoft to collaborate on a database to help the companies track and “curb the spread of terrorist content online.”