Many Fifth Circuit Judges Hope to Eviscerate Section 230–Doe v. Snap
I previously covered the district court ruling in this case. I summarized: A high school teacher allegedly used Snapchat to groom a sophomore student for a sexual relationship. (Atypically, the teacher was female and the victim was male, but the…
Twitter Defeats FOSTA Case Over CSAM–Doe v. Twitter
This is a FOSTA case. All FOSTA cases are very complicated. (Indeed, almost all of the opinion is spent explaining the background). If you’re new to FOSTA cases and you are baffled by the layers of inferences and arguments here,…
Advertiser Can’t Force Facebook to Run Sex Product Ads–Strachan v. Facebook
Strachan created various Facebook pages and an advertising account. “In April 2020, Facebook cancelled Strachan’s advertising account and removed his advertising content from the platform.” Allegedly, Facebook “determined he was selling ‘Adult Services and/or Products,’ i.e., ‘sex products.’” To make…
Plaintiffs Are Eager to Invoke the Texas Social Media Censorship Law, But Will They Have to Do So in California?
Plaintiffs CAN’T WAIT to sue Internet services using the Texas social media censorship law. Indeed, they are already filing lawsuits despite the pending Supreme Court appeal hanging over the law. But surprise! The plaintiffs may have to sue in California…
My Amicus Brief in Moody v. NetChoice and NetChoice v. Paxton
In collaboration with superstar lawyer Michael Kwun, I submitted an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court against the Florida and Texas social media censorship laws. I had previously filed an amicus brief supporting certiorari in the Florida case, and…
Section 230 Applies to Doxxing TikTok Video–Couture v. Noshirvan
The court summarizes the plaintiffs’ allegations: Defendant [Danesh] Noshirvan is a TikTok creator. He makes money through TikTok gifts, tips, and subscription fees. His niche is cancel culture. Noshirvan finds a video of someone messing up. He then edits and…
Anti-TikTok Political Stunts Fail in Montana and Indiana Courts
Introduction It’s become a popular political sport to attack TikTok. Those attacks combine Sinophobia with anti-Big Tech sentiments, a double-whammy of political payoffs that’s addictive to politicians. Most anti-TikTok regulatory efforts are just political theater, intended to entertain voters without…
Evaluating the Constitutionality of Viewpoint-Neutral Trademark Registration Laws That Do Not Restrict Speech—Vidal v. Elster (Guest Blog Post)
By guest blogger Lisa Ramsey, Professor of Law, University of San Diego School of Law The Supreme Court will likely hold in Elster that Section 2(c) is consistent with the First Amendment, but will it clarify how to balance trademark…
Another Jawboning Case Fails in the 9th Circuit (But a TAFS Judge Doesn’t Like the Biden Administration)–Rogalinksi v. Meta
[I’m far behind in my blogging queue, especially with respect to the social media addiction rulings.] I previously summarized this case: Rogalinski made several posts about COVID. Facebook added “missing context” labels to two of them and removed another one….
Apple’s App Store Can Reject Unwanted Apps–Coronavirus Reporter v. Apple
Apple rejected two of the plaintiffs’ apps, “Coronavirus Reporter” and “Bitcoin Lottery,” for its app store. Apple rejected the Coronavirus Reporter app because it wasn’t associated with a government entity or medical institution; and it rejected the Bitcoin Lottery app…