The Plaintiff Is Probably Pissed About Section 230--Fyk v. Facebook

The Plaintiff Is Probably Pissed About Section 230–Fyk v. Facebook

[I’ll blog an analysis of Sen. Hawley’s bill attacking Section 230 soon.] Jason Fyk created Facebook pages “dedicated to videos and pictures of people urinating….Plaintiff alleges that Facebook blocked content posted by Plaintiff and removed content in order to make…

Linkwrap on Sen. Hawley's Bill Attacking Section 230

Linkwrap on Sen. Hawley’s Bill Attacking Section 230

As you probably saw, Sen. Josh Hawley introduced a new bill, “Ending Support for Internet Censorship Act,” targeting Section 230. The associated press release. Like most Congressional bill names, the title is a complete misdirection. Of course private entities aren’t…

Twitter Gets Another Significant Section 230 Win in Lawsuit by Suspended User--Murphy v. Twitter

Twitter Gets Another Significant Section 230 Win in Lawsuit by Suspended User–Murphy v. Twitter

Murphy had about 25,000 Twitter followers. She repeatedly referred to a trangender female as male in her tweets. Twitter suspended her account for “misgendering.” After more negative interactions between them, Twitter permanently banned Murphy. Murphy claimed that Twitter changed its…

Once Again, Section 230 Protects Twitter's Account Suspension Decisions--Brittain v. Twitter

Once Again, Section 230 Protects Twitter’s Account Suspension Decisions–Brittain v. Twitter

This is another easy defense win in a pro se case, and yet another lawsuit indirectly involving Trump and his supporters. Twitter suspended four accounts run by Craig Brittain of IsAnybodyDown? “revenge” porn infamy. Brittain sued. My prior blog post…

Vermont Supreme Court Dismisses Nonconsensual Pornography Prosecution–State v. VanBuren

Last year, the Vermont Supreme Court upheld Vermont’s sui generis crime of nonconsensual pornography dissemination (13 V.S.A. ยง 2606) from a facial constitutional challenge. This ruling was surprising because the court said that the law didn’t fit into any of…

D.C. Circuit Issues Sweeping Pro-Section 230 Opinion--Marshall's Locksmith v. Google

D.C. Circuit Issues Sweeping Pro-Section 230 Opinion–Marshall’s Locksmith v. Google

The DC Circuit has produced some defense-favorable Section 230 rulings, including Klayman v. Zuckerberg and Bennett v. Google. This opinion may be the most favorable yet. The plaintiffs are self-styled “legitimate” locksmiths who claim that Google gives too much prominence…

Contract Breach Claims Against Google Survive First Amendment Defense–Dreamstime v. Google

Dreamstime sells stock photos. It alleges that Google partnered with its competitors and then maliciously downgraded Dreamstime’s visibility, first in organic search results and then in keyword ads. Google allegedly also kicked Dreamstime’s app out of Google Play. Dreamstime sued…

“IAPP Content Moderation in 2019” Conference Recap

In May, the IAPP held a conference in DC called “Content Moderation in 2019.” Though the conference was not officially part of the COMO conference series, it was a logical extension of the series. The IAPP’s event page. My photo…

Section 230 Doesn't End Lawsuit Claiming Facebook Facilitated Sex Trafficking--Doe v. Facebook

Section 230 Doesn’t End Lawsuit Claiming Facebook Facilitated Sex Trafficking–Doe v. Facebook

As you may recall, Facebook embraced SESTA/FOSTA during the legislative proceedings. First, following advice from its political advisor Definers, Facebook decided SESTA was less important than the myriad of other political initiatives targeting it. As a result, Facebook caused the…

Section 230 Helps Facebook Easily Defeat Claims Over a User's Post--Richard v. Facebook

Section 230 Helps Facebook Easily Defeat Claims Over a User’s Post–Richard v. Facebook

A former employee, Malepeai, posted negative remarks on Facebook about his past employer and his family. The past employer sued Facebook for defamation, civil conspiracy, outrage, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. This direct assault on Facebook for third party…