New Paper: “Assuming Good Faith Online”
As part of a symposium, I was asked to write a short paper about how the Internet has changed since the mid-1990s when Section 230 was adopted. I chose to address the 1990s stereotype that most early Internet users were…
Snap and Airbnb Aren’t Liable for Tragic Shooting–Jackson v. Airbnb
This case involves a tragedy of a minor shooting another minor (the shooter and the victim’s family disagree about whether it was accidental or intentional). The shooter acquired the gun via Snapchat, and the shooting took place at an Airbnb…
Court Again Rejects Lawsuit Over YouTube’s Allegedly Discriminatory Content Moderation–Divino v. YouTube
LGBTQ+ content creators “claim that despite YouTube’s purported viewpoint neutrality, defendants have discriminated against them based on their sexual or gender orientation, identity, and/or viewpoints by censoring, demonetizing, or otherwise interfering with certain videos that plaintiffs uploaded to YouTube.” In…
“Liking” a Facebook Post Isn’t Defamatory–Gallagher v. MaternityWise
[WISHING YOU AND YOUR FAMILY A HAPPY THANKSGIVING] In 2018, Young posted a Facebook review accusing plaintiff Gallagher of being a sexual predator. Defendant Croudace allegedly “liked” Young’s post. The court says the “threshold issue is whether, as a matter…
Another Tough People Search Ruling–Spindler v. Seamless
Seamless offers a customer lead tool that displays the prospect’s personal information behind a subscription paywall with try-before-you-buy options. The plaintiff sued Seamless for violations of California’s publicity rights statute and related claims. The court denies Seamless’ motion to dismiss….
Ninth Circuit Easily Rejects Jawboning Claims Against YouTube–Doe v. Google
This is one of the many MAGA lawsuits over content moderation allegedly biased against conservatives–in this case, by YouTube as part of its crackdown on conspiracy theories. The plaintiffs argued that government jawboning turned YouTube into a state actor. The…
My Testimony to the Colombian Constitutional Court Regarding Online Account Terminations and Content Removals
Today, I testified remotely before the Colombian Constitutional Court in the case of Esperanza Gómez Silva c. Meta Platforms, Inc. y Facebook Colombia S.A.S. Expediente T-8.764.298. In a procedure I don’t understand, the court organized a public hearing to discuss…
Twitter Wins Another Account Termination Case–Yuksel v. Twitter
This is another account termination/suspension case, which turns out like all of the others. Yuksel was a longtime Twitter user with 142k followers. He claims that Twitter suspended his account at the behest of the Turkish government. The court dismisses…
Fourth Circuit Takes a Wrecking Ball to Zeran and Section 230–Henderson v. Public Data
Ugh, this Fourth Circuit opinion is terrible. I instantly knew it was written by a Trump appointee from the Federalist Society because it had the characteristic self-assured yet sloppy writing style. And what’s the deal with Justice Thomas fandom among…
Section 230 Protects TikTok for “Blackout Challenge” Death, Despite the Algorithms–Anderson v. TikTok
A tragic story: a 10-year old girl saw the Blackout Challenge on TikTok, tried it herself, and died. The mom sued TikTok for design defect and failure to warn claims under strict products liability and negligence theories. The mom claimed…