Section 230 Preempts Predator Access Claims Against Apple, Snap, and Verizon–Joan Doe v. Snap
This blog post addresses a specific genre of Section 230 litigation that I call “predator access” cases. The cases involve a victim with an online profile who connects with a criminal who commits sexual abuse. The victim is often underage,…
My Testimony Against Mandatory Online Age Authentication
I recently gave oral testimony to a committee of the New Zealand Parliament doing an inquiry into children’s harms online. My testimony was capped at 10 minutes, so I distilled my remarks into my 13 top objections to mandatory online…
Patient’s Negative Review of Her Dentist Wasn’t a “Matter of Public Concern”–J&D Dental v. Hou
Over a dozen years ago, I did a whole thing about healthcare providers suing their patients for defamation. I helped build the DoctoredReviews website to advocate against Medical Justice’s weaponization of copyright and contracts to get around Section 230. I…
Court Fetishizes Facebook’s TOS Statement That It Takes “Appropriate” Content Moderation Actions–Calise v. Meta
This is the remand of the disastrous Ninth Circuit decision, where a TAFS judge launched a wrecking ball into the Ninth Circuit’s Section 230 jurisprudence. When the dust settled, the 9th Circuit ruling enables plaintiffs to plead around Section 230…
Section 230 Applies to Surreptitiously Recorded Video–Does 1-9 v. Pornhub and xHamster
This case involves surreptitiously created NCP videos from a college locker room. (Note: this is not a new issue for Section 230–the Doe v. GTE 7th Circuit decision dealt with similar facts in 2003). Murphy allegedly set up the cameras….
Court Greenlights Politician’s Censorship of Social Media Comments–Fox v. Faison
Rep. Jeremy Faison is a Republican Tennessee state representative in what is a hugely Republican district (for example, his district includes Cocke County, which voted 83% for Trump in 2024). He also is the chamber’s Republican Caucus Chairman. He came…
Google Search Isn’t a “Common Carrier” (DUH)–Ohio v. Google
State AGs undertake some of the stupidest and most MAGAlicious stunts, a form of vacuous theater to own the libs rather than better the lives of their constituents. In this case, Ohio AG Yost sued Google, claiming that Google Search…
Google and Roblox Defeat Videogame Addiction Lawsuit–Courtright v. Epic Games
The plaintiff claims that “video games are designed, marketed, and sold in a way that creates and sustains addiction in users.” This becomes the anchor for a mondo 260 page complaint against Epic Games, Roblox, Mojang, Microsoft, Meta, Google, Another…
University of Wisconsin-Madison Censored Animal-Rights Activist on Instagram and Facebook–Krasno v. UWM
Krasno is a critic of University of Wisconsin-Madison’s treatment of animals. She commented on UWM’s Instagram and Facebook posts. UWM’s social media managers hid her comments manually; some of her comments were blocked by UWM’s keyword filters. Prior blog post….
The Ninth Circuit Finds Two New Ways to Undermine Section 230–Doe v. Twitter
The Ninth Circuit swiss-cheesed Section 230 with two new exceptions. 📉 * * * This is a FOSTA case. The plaintiffs allege that “traffickers” coerced the victims to produce CSAM, then posted the materials to Twitter. The plaintiffs further allege…