WeChat Defeats Account Termination Lawsuit–Sun v. WeChat
I’m blogging this otherwise unremarkable case for completeness. WeChat blocked Sun’s account in 2022, allegedly because Sun was discussing Chinese politics. Sun sued WeChat pro se for violating his civil rights (a 1983 claim). This is an easy dismissal. As the court says, the “conduct of private parties typically falls outside the scope of protection offered by § 1983,” and that’s true here:
Plaintiff does not allege any state action that would sustain a § 1983 claim. Nor has Plaintiff provided factual allegations that could support an inference that there is a “close nexus” between Defendant, a private entity, and the state, such that Defendant’s actions are attributable to the state.
Cites to Forbes v. Facebook and Fehrenbach v. Zeldin.
This adds to the ever-growing list of failed lawsuits over account terminations and content removals.
Case Citation: Sun v. WeChat (USA), 2025 WL 1126477 (E.D.N.Y. April 16, 2025)
Selected Posts About State Action Claims
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Is Breaking Internet Law Faster Than I Can Blog It
- A Peek Into the Long Tail of Facebook’s Litigation Docket
- Jawboning Defendants Are 6-for-6 in the Ninth Circuit–Hart v. Facebook
- YouTube Still Isn’t a State Actor–Albertson v. Google
- 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