Section 230 Applies to Doxxing TikTok Video–Couture v. Noshirvan
The court summarizes the plaintiffs’ allegations: Defendant [Danesh] Noshirvan is a TikTok creator. He makes money through TikTok gifts, tips, and subscription fees. His niche is cancel culture. Noshirvan finds a video of someone messing up. He then edits and…
Anti-TikTok Political Stunts Fail in Montana and Indiana Courts
Introduction It’s become a popular political sport to attack TikTok. Those attacks combine Sinophobia with anti-Big Tech sentiments, a double-whammy of political payoffs that’s addictive to politicians. Most anti-TikTok regulatory efforts are just political theater, intended to entertain voters without…
Evaluating the Constitutionality of Viewpoint-Neutral Trademark Registration Laws That Do Not Restrict Speech—Vidal v. Elster (Guest Blog Post)
By guest blogger Lisa Ramsey, Professor of Law, University of San Diego School of Law The Supreme Court will likely hold in Elster that Section 2(c) is consistent with the First Amendment, but will it clarify how to balance trademark…
Another Jawboning Case Fails in the 9th Circuit (But a TAFS Judge Doesn’t Like the Biden Administration)–Rogalinksi v. Meta
[I’m far behind in my blogging queue, especially with respect to the social media addiction rulings.] I previously summarized this case: Rogalinski made several posts about COVID. Facebook added “missing context” labels to two of them and removed another one….
Apple’s App Store Can Reject Unwanted Apps–Coronavirus Reporter v. Apple
Apple rejected two of the plaintiffs’ apps, “Coronavirus Reporter” and “Bitcoin Lottery,” for its app store. Apple rejected the Coronavirus Reporter app because it wasn’t associated with a government entity or medical institution; and it rejected the Bitcoin Lottery app…
Some New Section 230 Memes
I gave a brand-new talk about Section 230 at the California Lawyers Association IP Institute. (It was recorded, but I believe it will be behind the CLA paywall). You can see my completely new slide deck here. It contains some…
Section 230 Applies to Nextdoor Consumer Reviews–Duffer v. Nextdoor
The court summarizes the plaintiff’s allegations: Plaintiff alleges that in October, 2020, he received a negative review on Nextdoor from a former customer. A series of other negative reviews followed. An associate of the plaintiff alerted Nextdoor about the reviews…
Section 230 Protects Gmail’s Spam Filter–RNC v. Google
[My blogging queue has gotten backlogged. I’m slowly catching up. I hope you enjoy these 2,800 words on legal topics you assumed were definitively resolved over a dozen years ago.] Introduction This lawsuit is one of the many lawsuits around…
Section 230 Once Again Applies to Claims Over Offline Sexual Abuse–Doe v. Grindr
John Doe, a 13 year old, created a Grindr profile and connected with Pritt. They met offline and engaged in sex. Doe sued Grindr for negligence and IIED. Grindr successfully defends on Section 230 grounds. ICS Provider. Yes. Cite to…
Louisiana’s Age Authentication Mandate Avoids Constitutional Scrutiny Using a Legislative Drafting Trick–Free Speech Coalition v. LeBlanc
You may have heard of this legislative drafting trick before. The legislature passes a law that’s likely unconstitutional, but the law doesn’t provide for enforcement by any state actors. Instead, the law creates a “bounty” system that rewards bounty hunters…