Enabling Hamas’ livestreaming of their atrocities on social media violated their privacy and facilitated terrorism, the plaintiffs charged.By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel NewsVictims of the Hamas-led invasion of Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and their families are suing Meta for over $1 billion for enabling the livestreaming of the terrorists’ atrocities on its social media sites.The lawsuit, filed in Tel Aviv District Court, claims that the parent company of Facebook and Instagram violated the victims’ right to privacy and facilitated terrorism as well by not blocking the invaders from using Meta’s platforms to publicize their criminal acts around the world.According to the lawsuit, “The horrific footage distributed by Facebook and Instagram on October 7 trampled the petitioners’ rights in the most harrowing way imaginable. These scenes of brutality, humiliation, and terror are permanently etched into the memories of the victims’ families and the Israeli public as the final moments of their loved ones’ lives.”Heading the list of plaintiffs is the Idan family, who were held hostage in their Kibbutz Nahal Oz home while being filmed by their Hamas captors, who included the murder of their daughter, Maayan, 18, streamed live on Facebook.“They held us for hours,” mother Gali recalled in a Ynet interview, “filming constantly. It was clear the livestreaming was part of their operational plan—propaganda aimed at spreading fear. They filmed Maayan’s murder, our desperation, our children’s trauma, and forced [husband] Tsahi to speak into the camera. All of it was broadcast.”Tsachi Idan was taken captive into Gaza and murdered there.Another plaintiff is Stav Arava, whose mother’s phone was seized by the terrorists in Nahal Oz and used to broadcast a live feed on Facebook of her son, Tomer Arava-Eliaz, being forced to go from house to house calling for his neighbors to come out so they could be murdered more easily.Tomer was killed accidentally by IDF forces after he managed to escape his captors.Mor Beider is suing after watching her grandmother being murdered in real time online.Other plaintiffs are families of minors who were exposed to the attacks after logging onto the internet on the day of the invasion and afterward, as the videos are still circulating almost two years later.This continuing exposure is another part of the complaint.“Facebook and Instagram violated the privacy of the victims, and continue to do so, by enabling the distribution of terror content for profit,” the lawsuit charged. “This represents grave harm to the dignity and psychological well-being of platform users—especially youth—who were exposed to raw acts of terror amplified by Meta’s systems.”Beyond the fact that the internet behemoth is profiting from her family’s pain, Gali Idan wants justice because she considers Meta to be actually “complicit in the infrastructure of terror” by not blocking or removing the Hamas clips.According to Ynet, this is the first time a civil case has been submitted in Israel demanding damages from a private firm for facilitating terrorism.The post Oct. 7 victims and families sue Meta for over $1 billion appeared first on World Israel News.