Ask the families of the victims of last year’s racist massacre in Buffalo what they want and one goal comes up again and again. “To hold anybody and everybody, in anything and everything, that had a part in what happened to my mother and the other nine, what was done in Buffalo, to hold them accountable,” said Garnell W. Whitfield Jr., whose mother, Ruth, was one of 10 people — all of them Black — who were killed. That longing for accountability has resulted in two new civil lawsuits filed by the Buffalo families, the most recent attempt to hold social media companies responsible when men steeped in violent ideologies on those platforms open fire. But even as such massacres continue, seemingly unabated, lawsuit after lawsuit against tech giants has thus far failed to award victims and their families in court. Indeed, the Buffalo suits will face significant challenges, experts in digital law say, with some blunt predictions as to their likelihood for success.

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Persons: “, ”, Whitfield Jr, Ruth, Black — Organizations: Buffalo Locations: Buffalo