For the Third Time, a Second Circuit Panel Dismisses an Online Account Termination Case–Domen v. Vimeo
A 3-judge panel has issued its third opinion in Domen v. Vimeo, a lawsuit alleging that Vimeo committed unlawful discrimination by terminating his account. How does an appellate panel reach a third opinion in the same case? It issued its…
Law Enforcement’s Efforts to Scrub COVID “Misinformation” Online Violated the First Amendment–Cohoon v. Konrath
Amyiah Cohoon is a high schooler in central Wisconsin. In March 2020, she contracted a respiratory illness. A COVID test came back negative, but the doctor told her it may be a false negative and told her to quarantine. She…
Texas Enacts Social Media Censorship Law to Benefit Anti-Vaxxers & Spammers
State legislatures are competing with each other to see who can enact the most ill-advised laws to impose censorship on the Internet. Florida made a splash enacting its social media censorship bill SB 7072, only to have a federal district…
Florida and Its Amici Try to Justify Government Censorship in the 11th Circuit–NetChoice v. Moody
Earlier this year, Florida enacted a wide-ranging, complex, poorly drafted, and enthusiastically censorial law, SB7072. Among other problems, the law dictates how “social media platforms” can make their editorial decisions. Fortunately, a Florida federal judge blocked Florida’s social media censorship…
To No One’s Surprise, FOSTA Is Confounding Judges–J.B. v. G6
Plaintiffs underutilitized FOSTA’s new Section 230 exclusions for the first two years after the law’s enactment, but now we are getting FOSTA rulings at a rapid clip. Given FOSTA’s terrible drafting, it’s not surprising that the rulings are not agreeing…
The ADA Doesn’t Apply to Online Newspaper Website (Again)–Winegard v. Newsday
The plaintiff is deaf. He is a serial litigant (“By this Court’s count, Mr. Winegard had filed at least forty-four ADA lawsuits in this district alone as of August 16, 2021”). He says that he can’t watch video on the…
Australian High Court Says Facebook Accountholders “Publish” Third-Party Defamatory Comments–Fairfax Media v. Voller
The High Court of Australia has issued a troubling ruling that says Facebook accountholders potentially could be strictly liable for all defamatory comments to their Facebook posts. That legal standard could devastate social media usage in Australia. It increases the risk…
FOSTA Claim Can Proceed Against Twitter–Doe v. Twitter
The court summarizes the allegations: Plaintiffs John Doe #1 and John Doe #2 allege that when they were thirteen years old they were solicited and recruited for sex trafficking and manipulated into providing to a third-party sex trafficker pornographic videos…
As Expected, Malwarebytes Defeats Enigma’s Lawsuit Without Section 230’s Help
Malwarebytes and Enigma offer competitive anti-threat software. Malwarebytes classified Enigma’s software as a “potentially unwanted program,” or PUP, and quarantined the programs. Enigma sued Malwarebytes for that classification/quarantine. Initially, the district court dismissed the case on Section 230(c)(2)(B) grounds. In…
Online ‘Diatribe’ Over a Birthday Cake Isn’t Protected by Anti-SLAPP Law–Woodhill Ventures v. Yang
The court opinion starts: “This case is about a birthday cake.” Ben “Baller” Yang, blinger to some stars, and his wife threw a birthday party for their 7 year old child, London (is this London’s Instagram page?). The wife ordered…