Facebook Can’t Shake Publicity Rights Claim–Hepp v. Facebook
Third parties created ads featuring Hepp without her consent. From the complaint (Hepp is the upper right image; the photo was taken from security camera footage): Facebook ran some of the ads featuring Hepp’s image. The district court dismissed Hepp’s…
Once Again, LinkedIn Can’t Use CFAA To Stop Unwanted Scraping–hiQ v. LinkedIn
The hiQ v. LinkedIn lawsuit started in 2017. In 2019, the Ninth Circuit upheld the district court’s injunction ruling in favor of hiQ. The Supreme Court vacated that decision and told the Ninth Circuit to reconsider its ruling in light…
Constitutional Challenge to FOSTA Fails–Woodhull v. US
The EFF is leading a constitutional challenge to FOSTA. The district court initially rejected standing, but the DC Circuit reversed that decision in 2020 and found standing for at least two plaintiffs. On remand, the district court rejects all of…
Account Suspension Lawsuit Against Twitter Survives Motion to Dismiss–Berenson v. Twitter
This case involves Alex Berenson, a one-time NY Times reporter who drifted into #MAGAland. On Twitter and elsewhere, Berenson downplayed the risks of COVID and questioned the safety of the COVID vaccines. Unlike most Twitter users, Berenson was high-profile enough…
Section 230 Helps Facebook Defeat Lawsuit Over Scam Ads–Calise v. Meta
The plaintiffs allege that Facebook runs third-party ads for scammy third-party merchant websites. One plaintiff claims a merchant didn’t send the ordered goods as described. Another plaintiff claimed that a merchant never sent any goods at all. The plaintiffs sued…
Another Failed Lawsuit Over Facebook’s Content Removals–Brock v. Zuckerberg
Facebook allegedly removed 30+ of the plaintiff’s posts. The plaintiff sued Facebook for constitutional violations and other claims. The district court dismissed the lawsuit. The Second Circuit affirms. State Action. Brock argued that Facebook is a state actor because it is…
Catching Up on a FOSTA Case–ML v. Craigslist
This is one of many FOSTA cases in process. They are all quite complicated and hard to understand. This particular lawsuit targets Craigslist even though Craigslist shut down its adult services category in 2010, eight years before FOSTA was enacted,…
Catching Up on the Challenge to Texas’ Social Media Censorship Law–NetChoice v. Paxton
I’m continuing coverage of the legal challenge to Texas’ social media censorship law, now on appeal to the Fifth Circuit. I recently rounded up the Texas opening brief and its supporting amici briefs. In this post, I’ll round up the…
Facebook Loses Jurisdictional Ruling in Texas Sex Trafficking Lawsuit–Facebook v. Doe
After Facebook ill-advisedly helped FOSTA pass, in 2018 it was sued using FOSTA for facilitating sex trafficking in Texas state court. Facebook tried to end the lawsuit using Section 230. This resulted in a Texas Supreme Court opinion reluctantly granting…
Facebook Defeats Lawsuit Over Its Failure to Explain an Account Termination–King v. Facebook
This is another one of the many unsuccessful lawsuits over online account terminations. The court previously rejected most of this lawsuit on a mix of Section 230 grounds and the prima facie elements, but permitted the plaintiff to try again…