Sex Trafficking Lawsuit Against Craigslist Moves Forward–ML v. Craigslist
In April, a magistrate judge issued a breathtaking ruling that Craigslist can be sued for sex trafficking torts, that Section 230 didn’t support Craigslist’s motion to dismiss, and that the statute of limitations might not apply even though the facts…
Twibel Lawsuit Fails–Ganske v. Mensch
This Twibel opinion starts off colorfully: “If the Internet is akin to the Wild West, as many have suggested, Twitter is, perhaps, the shooting gallery, where verbal gunslingers engage in prolonged hyperbolic crossfire. It is in this context of battle…
Court Denies TRO Seeking to Remove Facebook’s “Russia State-Controlled Media” Label–Maffick v. Facebook
Maffick publishes millennial-friendly videos on Facebook pages titled “In the Now,” “Waste-Ed” and “Soapbox.” See this CNN article for some background. Facebook added its new “Russia State-Controlled Media” label to their pages (see today’s screenshot on the right; I added…
Section 230 Preempts Another FOSTA Claim–Doe v. Kik
Kik is a messaging service. “Plaintiff alleges that Defendants have knowledge that sexual predators use its service to prey on minors but have failed to provide any warnings or enact policies to protect minors from such abuses.” The plaintiff alleges…
The First Amendment Protects the Marketing Term “Vegan Butter”–Miyoko’s v. Ross
I have been a vegetarian for 35+ years. Over the past 15+ years, I have shifted towards being vegan. I eat virtually 100% vegan in the home and always prefer vegan options when they are available. My embrace of veganism…
Australian Court Says Using a Zipper-Mouth Emoji Can Be Defamatory–Burrows v. Houda
This case involves a Twitter thread discussing the plaintiff’s alleged misconduct as a lawyer. I’m still looking for the original thread (some or all of it appears to be deleted based on my attempts to find it on Twitter) or…
Section 230 Protects Craigslist from Sex Trafficking Claims, Despite FOSTA–JB v. Craigslist
This is an important early judicial interpretation of FOSTA. The court reaches several key conclusions, including that Section 230(c)(1) still preempts state civil claims and Craigslist did not “participate in a venture” with every advertiser of commercial sex. If this…
Message Board Operator Isn’t Liable for Third-Party Posts (DUH)–East Coast Test Prep v. Allnurses
No need to check your watch. It’s still apocalyptic 2020, even though today’s blog post will take you back 15 years to when plaintiffs still hoped to hold message board operators liable for user posts. The caselaw has resoundingly thumped…
Google Defeats Account Termination Case on Section 230 Grounds (Mostly)–Enhanced Athlete v. YouTube
This is another account termination case. The plaintiff ran two YouTube channels with 145k subscribers. The opinion implies that the channels hyped a steroid-like supplement not approved by the FDA (“SARMS”). As usual with cases in this genre, the plaintiff…
Comments on NTIA’s Petition to the FCC Seeking to Destroy Section 230
As requested by the Trump anti-Section 230 Executive Order from May, NTIA submitted a 57 page petition to the FCC asking the FCC to make rules interpreting Section 230. The FCC, in turn, has put the petition out for public…