Section 230 Protects Services That Permit Anonymous Third-Party Posts–Bride v. Snap
This case involves two “anonymous messaging” apps, Yolo and LMK. Both allegedly target teens audiences. “Plaintiffs allege they received harassing messages in response to their benign posts on Defendants’ applications and did not receive comparable messages on other platforms in…
My Amicus Brief in Gonzalez v. Google
Internet Law is in play at the U.S. Supreme Court, as they will likely hear at least four cases this term. (A possible fifth is the 303 Creative case). The four cases: Gonzalez v. Google, over whether Section 230 applies…
Man Convicted for Asking for CSAM on Mom Blogs–US v. Moran
Moran made several comments on generally-wholesome “mom blogs” asking moms to have their daughters create CSAM to his specifications. Among other crimes, he was prosecuted for attempted CSAM production. His defense was basically that it was so stupid to ask…
What Consequences for High School Freshmen’s Racist Online Petition?–Plaintiff A v. Park Hill School District
Yet another case involving high school students being disciplined for doing stupid things online. Ugh. This case involves high school freshmen at a Missouri public school. In September 2021, while riding on a school bus to a football game, Plaintiff…
Facebook Defeats Lawsuit Over Account Suspension for a Voting Misinformation “Joke”–Hall v. Meta
James A. (Jim) Hall was a candidate for the Arkansas House of Representatives. Right before the November 2022 election, Facebook temporarily suspended his account, cutting off his access to 2.5k friends/followers. This sounds like a potentially problematic move by Facebook,…
2H 2022 Quick Links, Part 5 (Censorship & More)
Censorship * Wired: China Is Tightening Its Grip on Big Tech * NY Times: ‘An Invisible Cage’: How China Is Policing the Future * NY Times: How Russian Trolls Helped Keep the Women’s March Out of Lock Step * Wired:…
Twitter Defeats Account Suspension Lawsuit Again–Al-Ahmed v. Twitter
I previously described the case: This case involves the tragic situation where two Twitter employees allegedly became operatives for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and turned over sensitive information about the government’s critics to the Saudi Arabia government. I’m going…
2H 2022 Quick Links, Part 4 (Section 230, Consumer Reviews)
Section 230 * Ayala v. Viator, Inc., 2021 Mass. Super. LEXIS 1151 (Mass. Superior Ct. Nov. 19, 2021): The claims in the Second Amended Complaint seek to hold Defendants liable for content created and published by Defendants, not a third…
Section 230 Applies to Police Union’s Message Board–Desilet v. East Hartford Police Officers’ Association
Courtney Desilet was a police officer for the East Hartford police department. She alleges she was the victim of workplace discrimination and harassment. Her allegations sparked chatter on the union’s message board, including anonymous messages attacking her. She sued (among…
2H 2022 Quick Links, Part 3 (Copyrights and More)
Copyright * Wallster, Inc. v. Redbubble, Inc., 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 198181 (C.D. Cal. Oct. 21, 2022): this Court rejects Wallshoppe’s argument that recklessness is enough to meet the knowledge requirement for contributory copyright infringement… Wallshoppe alleges Defendant has a…