My Trustcon 2022 Keynote Talk
In September, I attended Trustcon, the first annual membership conference for the Trust & Safety Professional Association (TSPA), followed by Stanford Internet Observatory’s first Trust & Safety Research Conference (co-sponsored…
FitBit’s Contract Formation Upheld Despite Different Ways of Linking to the TOS—Houtchens v. Google (with Bonus Contracts Quick Links)
This is a consumer protection lawsuit against FitBit, now owned by Google. Google sought to send the case to arbitration based on the TOS provisions. The court sees this as…
Ninth Circuit Easily Rejects Another Jawboning Case–Huber v. Biden
I previously described the case: Twitter suspended Huber pursuant to its COVID misinformation policy. Huber claimed that Twitter took that action in league with the Biden administration. If this setup…
Rounding Up Some Recent Editorial Transparency Developments
Editorial transparency is generating lots of legal activity. This post rounds up some recent developments. NetChoice v. Moody As expected, both sides appealed the 11th Circuit’s NetChoice v. FLA ruling…
Does Possession of Memes Show Criminal Intent?–People v. Watts
…series of five photos depicting two men arguing [Eric’s comment: the iconic American Choppers meme], with the accompanying text: “[MAN 1]: Why did you have sex with her? [MAN 2]:…
Section 230 Protects a User Sharing an Allegedly Defamatory Facebook Event–AH v. Labana
This case involves St. Francis High School, a Catholic high school in Mountain View located just a few steps away from my home. In the wake of George Floyd’s death…
Got a Selfie With a Celebrity? Think Twice Before Using It In Ads–50 Cent v. Kogan
This is yet another blog post about 50 Cent a/k/a Curtis Jackson. This time, he “happened to be in the proximity” of the defendant’s cosmetic surgery clinic. Doing what, exactly?…
Another Copyright Owner Learns Why It’s Better to Send DMCA Takedown Notices Before Suing–BMG v. Likee
Likee is a TikTok-like app that allows users to publish short videos, often set to music. Without sending DMCA takedown notices, BMG sued it for direct and contributory copyright infringement….
Constituent Blocking on Twitter Is Censorship–Felts v. Vollmer
It’s a simple question: can a government official block a constituent on social media? Based on the Knight First Amendment v. Trump ruling in the Second Circuit, it looked like…
Messaging App Isn’t Liable for an Offline Murder (Even Without Section 230)–Roland v. Letgo
This is a tragic case involving the marketplace app Letgo. Using an alias, Brown listed a stolen car for sale on the app. The Rolands agreed to meet Brown in…