Sen. Graham Cares More About Trolls Than Section 230 (Comments on Online Content Policy Modernization Act)
I’m blogging yet another terrible Section 230 reform proposal: S. 4534, the ‘‘Online Freedom and Viewpoint Diversity Act’’ (introduced by Sens. Wicker, Graham, and Blackburn), which has been rolled into S. 4632, the “Online Content Policy Modernization Act.” Despite the…
Twitter Isn’t Liable for Defamatory Impersonation Account–Brikman v. Twitter
This is a pro se lawsuit, which explains why the plaintiffs tried obviously doomed arguments that (I hope) no attorney would make in 2020. The plaintiffs are affiliated with a Brooklyn synagogue, Kneses Israel of Seagate. Someone created a Twitter…
Facial Recognition Database Vendor May Not Qualify for Section 230–Vermont v. Clearview
As you recall, Clearview AI is a facial recognition database vendor. Some law enforcement departments have adopted its service, but we aren’t sure how many. We also aren’t sure about its facial recognition accuracy (or, for that matter, how much…
An Interview on Why Section 230 Is On the “Endangered Watch List”
[I did a short interview with a book author:] When we hear this debate of whether social media sites are publishers or platforms, why is it relevant to everyday consumers of content from sites like Facebook and YouTube? It isn’t,…
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…
Amazon Is Strictly Liable for Marketplace Items, Reinforcing That Online Marketplaces Are Doomed–Bolger v. Amazon
This is another one of my overlong angsty posts about the death of Section 230. Today’s angst is about the liability regime for online marketplace transactions, the inevitable demise of online marketplaces, and how we’ll all end up poorer when…
512(f) Claim Fails in the 11th Circuit–Johnson v. New Destiny Christian Center
This is a long-running and complex copyright takedown dispute that has been triggering my Westlaw alerts for years. I only blogged it once, in 2017, when the 512(f) claim survived a motion to dismiss. At that time, I wrote “given…
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…
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…