YouTube Still Isn’t a State Actor–Albertson v. Google
This year, the Supreme Court is expected to issue an opinion on jawboning and its implications for when Internet services may become state actors because of such government pressure. Until then, plaintiffs will keep losing lawsuits that claim Internet services are state actors.
Timothy-Allen Albertson allegedly self-describes as a “curmudgeon” and “counter-troll.” According to that article, “Albertson’s assets…include $100 worth of books and $700 worth of guns.” #Priorities.
Albertson had a YouTube channel. “Albertson has serious legal and political issues with the LGBTQIA+ Identity Group.” Sad. He claims he expressed these views on YouTube, and in response YouTube shadowbanned him (reminder: the term shadowbanning gets (mis)used in a variety of ways) for violating its hate speech policies. He further claimed YouTube’s shadowbanning violated his constitutional rights. But YouTube isn’t a state actor, so it’s an easy nope.
Public Function. No, per Halleck and Prager.
Joint Action/Nexus. “Albertson points to no authority to support the proposition that Congressional investigations make a private entity a state actor, and the Court declines to make such a finding.” Cite to Doe v. Google. Also, “Albertson has not alleged that Google was a ‘willful participant in joint action’ with the government.”
If the forthcoming Supreme Court opinion gives even the tiniest bit of validity to claims that Internet services are state actors, the winners will be anti-LGBTQ haters and other anti-social actors seeking to force services to carry their anti-social content. Fortunately, for now, this is just one of the ever-growing number of failed lawsuits over content removal decisions.
Case Citation: Albertson v. Google, LLC, 2024 WL 476944 (N.D. Cal. Feb. 7, 2024)
Selected Posts About State Action Claims
- Another Jawboning Case Fails in the 9th Circuit (But a TAFS Judge Doesn’t Like the Biden Administration)–Rogalinksi v. Meta
- Twitter Account Suspension Lawsuits Keep Failing–Hall v. Twitter
- Twitter Defeats Account Suspension Case–Craft v. Musk
- Government Submissions to a Trusted Flagger Program Aren’t Unconstitutional Jawboning–O’Handley v. Weber
- Facebook Defeats Lawsuit Over Account Suspension for a Voting Misinformation “Joke”–Hall v. Meta
- Prager’s Lawsuit Over Biased Content Moderation Decisively Fails Again (This Time, in State Court)–Prager v. YouTube
- The 5th Circuit Puts the 1st Amendment in a Blender & Whips Up a Terrible #MAGA Kool-Aid–NetChoice v. Paxton
- Facebook Defeats Jawboning Lawsuit Over COVID Misinformation Removal–Rogalinski v. Meta
- Another Account Suspension Case Yeeted–Rangel v. Dorsey
- Another Failed Lawsuit Over Trump’s Deplatforming–Rutenberg v. Twitter
- COVID Skeptic Loses Lawsuit Over Account Terminations–Hart v. Facebook
- Twitter Defeats Trump’s Deplatforming Lawsuit–Trump v. Twitter
- Account Suspension Lawsuit Against Twitter Survives Motion to Dismiss–Berenson v. Twitter
- Another Failed Lawsuit Over Facebook’s Content Removals–Brock v. Zuckerberg
- Section 230 Survives Yet Another Constitutional Challenge–Huber v. Biden
- Another Court Says Facebook Isn’t a State Actor–McWaters v. Houston
- Another Anti-Vaxxer Jawboning Lawsuit Fails–ICAN v. YouTube
- The First Amendment Protects Twitter’s Fact-Checking and Account Suspension Decisions–O’Handley v. Padilla
- One More Time: Facebook Isn’t a State Actor–Atkinson v. Facebook
- Two More Courts Tell Litigants That Social Media Services Aren’t State Actors
- Government Jawboning Doesn’t Turn Internet Services into State Actors–Doe v. Google
- Anti-Zionist Loses Lawsuit Over Social Media Account Suspensions–Martillo v. Facebook
- Court Nopes Another Lawsuit Over Facebook Suspensions–Orders v. Facebook
- Facebook Defeats Lawsuit By Publishers of Vaccine (Mis?)information–Children’s Health Defense v. Facebook
- Court Rejects Lawsuit Alleging YouTube Engaged in Racially Biased Content Moderation–Newman v. Google
- Yet Another Court Says Facebook Isn’t a State Actor–Brock v. Zuckerberg
- YouTube (Again) Defeats Lawsuit Over Content Removal–Lewis v. Google
- When It Came to @RealDonaldTrump, Twitter Couldn’t Please Everyone–Rutenberg v. Twitter
- Another Must-Carry Lawsuit Against YouTube Fails–Daniels v Alphabet
- Newspaper Isn’t State Actor–Plotkin v. Astorian
- An Account Suspension Case Fails Again–Perez v. LinkedIn
- Are Social Media Services “State Actors” or “Common Carriers”?
- Google and Twitter Defeat Lawsuit Over Account Suspensions/Terminations–DeLima v. Google
- More Plaintiffs (and Lawyers) Need To Be Reminded That YouTube Isn’t a State Actor–Divino v. Google
- Facebook Isn’t a Constructive Public Trust–Cameron Atkinson v. Facebook
- Google and YouTube Aren’t “Censoring” Breitbart Comments–Belknap v. Alphabet
- LinkedIn Isn’t a State Actor–Perez v. LinkedIn
- Section 230 Preempts Another Facebook Account Termination Case–Zimmerman v. Facebook
- Section 230 Ends Demonetized YouTuber’s Lawsuit–Lewis v. Google
- Court Rejects Another Lawsuit Alleging that Internet Companies Suppress Conservative Views–Freedom Watch v. Google
- Another Suspended Twitter User Loses in Court–Wilson v. Twitter
- First Voters Reject Tulsi Gabbard, Then a Judge Does–Gabbard v. Google
- YouTube Isn’t a State Actor (DUH)–PragerU v. Google
- Facebook Still Isn’t Obligated to Publish Russian Troll Content–FAN v. Facebook
- Vimeo Defeats Lawsuit for Terminating Account That Posted Conversion Therapy Videos–Domen v. Vimeo
- Russia Fucked With American Democracy, But It Can’t Fuck With Section 230–Federal Agency of News v. Facebook
- Private Publishers Aren’t State Actors–Manhattan Community Access v. Halleck
- Your Periodic Reminder That Facebook Isn’t a State Actor–Williby v. Zuckerberg
- Section 230 Protects Facebook’s Account and Content Restriction Decisions–Ebeid v. Facebook
- Court Tosses Antitrust Claims That Internet Giants Are Biased Against Conservatives–Freedom Watch v. Google
- Twitter Isn’t a Shopping Mall for First Amendment Purposes (Duh)–Johnson v. Twitter
- YouTube Isn’t a Company Town (Duh)–Prager University v. Google
- Facebook Defeats Lawsuit By User Suspended Over ‘Bowling Green Massacre’–Shulman v. Facebook
- Yelp, Twitter and Facebook Aren’t State Actors–Quigley v. Yelp
- Facebook Not Liable for Account Termination–Young v. Facebook
- Online Game Network Isn’t Company Town–Estavillo v. Sony
- Third Circuit Says Google Isn’t State Actor–Jayne v. Google Founders
- Ask.com Not Liable for Search Results or Indexing Decisions–Murawski v. Pataki
- Search Engines Defeat “Must-Carry” Lawsuit–Langdon v. Google
- KinderStart Lawsuit Dismissed (With Leave to Amend)
- ICANN Not a State Actor