Section 230 Doesn’t Apply to Generative AI Enhancements to Ad Copy (But the Plaintiffs Lose Anyway)–Bouck and Suddeth v. Meta
The blog post covers two cases involving scammy ads on Facebook that were part of a pump-and-dump for Chinese penny stocks. The first two rulings came in March. In the Bouck case, the court rejected Facebook’s Section 230 defense because…
Google Search Isn’t a Common Carrier (duh)–Ohio v. Google
Censorship efforts tend to come in fads. Censors get fired up about a new censorship theory and try it out, but the experiment tends to not satisfy them (either because it’s struck down or doesn’t scratch their censorship itch enough)…
Fifth Circuit Keeps Doing Fifth Circuit Things 📉–SEAT v. Paxton
This case involves a Texas statute (Senate Bill 2420, the App Store Accountability Act) requiring app stores to age-authenticate their users and obtain parental consent (among other requirements). I oppose this law and all other online age authentication mandates. The…
Google Defeats “Negligent Digital Architecture” Claim–Starrâ„¢ v. Google
According to her website (sorry, no link love here), Katherine Starrâ„¢ is a 2-time Olympian (she swam on Great Britain’s swim team under the name “Annabelle Cripps“) and a sexual abuse survivor. She now spends a lot of time thinking…
How Often Do Consumers Balk at Doing Online Age Authentication?
In search engine parlance, the “bounce” rate is the percent of searchers who click on a search results link and then immediately hit the back button. High bounce rates usually signal that something has gone wrong. Either the destination website…
Ninth Circuit Panel Goes Out of Its Way to Question Section 230–Doe v. Meta
[I’ve been sitting on this ruling for almost a month because blog posts like this are time-consuming and emotionally draining to write. It may not look it, but this post took about 6 hours to write.] This case involves a…
Section 230 Ends Lawsuit by Twitter Premium Subscriber–Taddeo-Waite v. X
This court summarizes: “At the core of Taddeo-Waite’s complaint is his desire to hold X liable for allegedly maintaining a graphic and upsetting post on its platform, amplifying the reach of that post, and hampering the extent of Taddeo-Waite’s own…
New Book Chapter Tells the TSPA and TSF Origin Stories
I’ve posted a transcript of a conversation between me and my TSPA and TSF cofounders Adelin Cai and Clara Tsao, guided by Amanda Menking of TSF. In the conversation, we discuss the origin stories of the Trust & Safety Professional…
The YOLO Remand Shows Why the 9th Circuit Should Stop Carving Up Section 230–Bride v. Snap
This is the remand of the troubling Ninth Circuit Section 230 decision in Bride v. YOLO. As you may recall, the plaintiffs claims that YOLO made statements about its content moderation and the safety of its environment that the plaintiffs…
WorldStarHipHop Gets Section 230 Dismissal–Eizenga v. MediaLab
The court describes the video in question (as alleged): an anonymous social media account and online “persona” known as Rain Drops Media (“Rain Drops”) published a defamatory video falsely suggesting that Eizenga was an abusive partner who battered Monroe Capri…