Families of Florida nightclub victims to sue Twitter, Google and Facebook

Internet giants Twitter, Google and Facebook are being taken to court by the families of those killed during the attack on the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, in June this year.

One of the deadliest mass shootings in the history of the US took the lives of 49 people in the club, after Omar Mateen opened fire having pledged allegiance to Islamic State.

The lawsuit was filed in a federal court in Detroit on Monday, with the families of three of the victims alleging that the tech companies provided "material support" to the gunman.

The three companies "provided the terrorist group ISIS with accounts they use to spread extremist propaganda, raise funds and attract new recruits," according to the suit.

"Material support has been instrumental to the rise of ISIS and has enabled it to carry out or cause to be carried out, numerous terrorist attacks."

Facebook defended its policies on Tuesday, while Google and Twitter are yet to comment on the case.

"We are committed to providing a service where people feel safe when using Facebook," it said in a statement. "We sympathize with the victims and their families."

Legislation in the United States is heavily stacked in favour of technology companies in situations such as this however, such as the Communications Decency Act, which states that they are not liable for content which is posted on their sites by others.