An Initial Look at Washington’s New Anti-SLAPP Statute
Washington’s anti-SLAPP statute was struck down by the Washington State Supreme Court in May 2015. Effective July 25, 2021, Washington has a new anti-SLAPP statute. My summary of the statute: Scope of coverage: The statute applies to causes of action…
Interview About Section 230 and COVID Misinformation
[I did another interview with Mathew Ingram at Galley by CJR] Ingram: Eric, thanks very much for doing this. I know we’ve discussed Section 230 before on Galley, so I don’t want to go over old ground, but is there…
Blogger Defeats Defamation Claims–Buckley v. Moore
The plaintiff Buckley runs “Top Gun Options,” a site that purportedly teaches users how to trade options. The defendant Moore runs a blog called “TradingSchools.org,” which purportedly does independent reviews of investment products. Moore shot down Top Gun Options in…
Conservative’s Lawsuit Over Google Deindexing Fails–DJ Lincoln v. Google
This is yet another #MAGA lawsuit. The plaintiff claimed that Google deindexed conservatives in a biased way. This particular plaintiff chose perhaps the least likely path to advance that claim, emphasizing RICO claims. As we all know, it’s never civil…
Second Circuit Rejects an Account Termination Lawsuit…Again (Phew!)–Domen v. Vimeo
Domen posted videos advocating for sexual orientation change efforts (SOCE). Vimeo terminated his account. Domen sued Vimeo for the termination, alleging that it discriminated against him. The district court dismissed Domen’s complaint. The Second Circuit affirmed, in a precedent-setting opinion…
New Essay: “Five Things to Know About Section 230”
At the request of Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), a Canadian think-tank, I wrote a short essay called “Five Things to Know About Section 230.” It’s a brief-and-breezy overview of Section 230 to get Canadian readers up-to-speed on our…
ADA Doesn’t Apply to Newspaper’s Website–Suris v. Gannett
The plaintiff is deaf. He tried to watch videos on the USA Today website but couldn’t due to the lack of closed captioning. USA Today defended on the grounds that its website isn’t a place of public accommodation. The court…
Trump Defeats Lawsuit Over Manipulated Viral Video He Tweeted–Cisneros v. Cook
This case relates to a joyous and heartwarming video you’ve probably seen, where two 2-year-old boys–one black, one white–run up to each other, give each other a big hug like they are long-lost friends, and then run down the sidewalk…
Comments on Trump’s Lawsuits Against YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter
When Trump signed his anti-230 EO in May 2020, I was immediately overwhelmed with media calls all asking the same basic question: this is garbage, right? We now have the final answer to that question. As I and others predicted…
1H 2021 Quick Links, Part 3 (Content Moderation, Censorship, Privacy, & More)
Content Moderation * NYT: Inside Twitter’s Decision to Cut Off Trump * Axios: All the platforms that have banned or restricted Trump so far * NY Times: What Happened When Trump Was Banned on Social Media * NY Times: Mark…