Can Twitter Cause Terrorism? Brussels Attack Victim's Wife Alleges ISIS Using Twitter For 'Fundraising And Operational Purposes'

The wife of a New York man named Alexander Pinczowski, who was killed alongside his sister in the Brussels attack, on March 26, 2016, is now suing Twitter for allowing terrorism to flourish on social media. Facebook, Twitter and Google, which have condemned terrorism and vowed to prevent such groups from using their sites, are often criticized when violent events ensue.

Anne Cameron Cain, the wife of Pinczowski, accused Twitter on Monday of aiding and abetting Islamic State group, also known as ISIS, by acting as the terrorist organization’s communication, recruiting and marketing arm, the New York Post reported. Cain, who is the daughter of the former U.S. Ambassador to Denmark, James Cain, filed the suit in the Manhattan federal court.

"ISIS has also used Twitter’s Direct Messaging capabilities for fundraising and operational purposes," Cain said in the 92-page lawsuit. "The conduct of Twitter was a direct, foreseeable and proximate cause of the wrongful deaths of Nohemi Gonzalez and Alexander Pinczowski."

Saying that Twitter violated the Anti-Terrorism Act, the lawsuit reportedly stated that the social media platform played "a uniquely essential role in the development of ISIS’s image, its success in recruiting members from around the world, and its ability to carry out attacks and intimidate its enemies."

Pinczowski had planned to fly home to New York with his 26-year-old sister, Sasha. He was on the phone, talking to his father, when the deadly blast ripped through the check-in area, killing 32 people. "The phone sounded like it went underwater and then went dead," recalled Pinczowski’s father in court documents. In a statement reportedly provided by Cain on Monday, she urged Twitter to cut off its network to "those who would destroy our way of life."

A similar lawsuit was filed against Facebook, Google and Twitter by Reynaldo Gonzalez, the father of Nohemi Gonzalez, an American who was one of 130 victims of the attacks in Paris on Nov. 13, 2015. This family joined Cain in the latest lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

All of the lawsuits accuse Silicon Valley companies of not doing enough to restrain terrorists from using its service to expand their reach.

"The conduct of Twitter was a direct, foreseeable and proximate cause of the wrongful deaths of Nohemi Gonzalez, Alexander Pinczowski," the New York lawsuit reportedly said.