Laura Loomer Loses Another Lawsuit Related to Her Twitter Ban–Illoominate v. CAIR
This is the detritus of Laura Loomer’s lawsuit against Twitter for banning her account. A court previously dismissed those claims on Section 230 grounds. She also sued the Council on American-Islamic Relations Foundation (CAIR), claiming they complained to Twitter about…
2H 2020 Quick Links, Part 4 (FOSTA)
* “Department of Justice shut down CityXGuide.com and arrested the site’s owner, for the first time utilizing the criminal expansions created under FOSTA/SESTA.” Notice of proceedings. Indictment. * Emily Morgan, On FOSTA and the Failures of Punitive Speech Restrictions, 115…
Facebook Isn’t a Constructive Public Trust–Cameron Atkinson v. Facebook
Cameron Atkinson self-describes himself as “a Christian, a published constitutional scholar, a soon-to-be trial and appellate lawyer, and a general hell-raiser.” He also describes himself as “Liberty’s sheriff” and you can even buy t-shirts apparently depicting him in that role….
2H 2020 Quick Links, Part 2 (Section 230)
* Griffin v. Google, 2020 WL 6781624 (S.D. Ga. Nov. 18, 2020). “Plaintiff only alleges these Defendants failed to screen to make sure their users were legal entities without providing any other basis for liability….Aside from some very limited exceptions,…
Google Isn’t Liable for Allegedly Problematic Search Results–Diez v. Google
Diez claims to be a “naturist” (note: these facts are taken from Diez’s complaint). He conducted Google image searches for the keywords “family naturist females,” “family naturist girls,” “family nudist females,” and “family nudist girls.” [PLEASE DO NOT INDEPENDENTLY INVESTIGATE…
CDT Lacks Standing to Challenge Trump’s Anti-230 Executive Order
In May, Trump issued an executive order designed to destroy Section 230 (EO 13925). Rather than actually work with Congress, Trump tried to amend 47 USC 230 only within the executive branch, which is largely a dead-end. I’m hoping Pres….
Justice Thomas’ Anti-Section 230 Statement Doesn’t Support Reconsideration–JB v. Craigslist
This is one of several pending cases against Craigslist for its alleged role in facilitating sex trafficking before 2010. In this case, the district court held that Section 230(c)(1) immunized the plaintiff’s state law claims. The plaintiff sought reconsideration due…
Op-Ed: Social Media Companies Should Permanently Ban Political Advertising
[This op-ed ran in the San Francisco Chronicle on December 8, 2020. I co-authored it with my colleague Irina Raicu from SCU’s Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. Irina and I don’t agree on very much, so it’s always a mitzvah…
Court Again Enjoins Anti-TikTok Executive Order–TikTok v. US
This is another ruling involving Trump’s efforts to kick TikTok and WeChat out of the United States. This court, interpreting the authorizing statute, previously partially enjoined the Secretary of Commerce’s implementation of the anti-TikTok executive order. Again relying exclusively on…
Google and YouTube Aren’t “Censoring” Breitbart Comments–Belknap v. Alphabet
Craig Belknap alleged that Google and YouTube violated the First Amendment and Section 230 by “deleting the citizen ‘Posts” that accompany and follow” Breitbart articles. (This is a pro se/in pro per suit). First Amendment. The court says “Neither Alphabet, nor…