The Fifth Circuit’s Campaign to Undermine Section 230 Is Making Progress–AB v. Salesforce
This is a FOSTA case involving Backpage, but it’s against Backpage’s vendor Salesforce. That makes this a tertiary liability claim. Here are the steps in the plaintiffs’ alleged chain of liability: V) victims promoted in Backpage advertisements (plaintiffs) –> D1)…
Omegle Defeats Lawsuit Over User’s “Capping”–MH v. Omegle
I previously described this case: Omegle enables real-time video and text chats with users assigned at random. The case involves an 11 year old girl who was a first-time Omegle user. The complaint alleges that a malefactor John Doe manipulated…
Unfair and Impolite Tweets Aren’t Defamatory–Flynn v. Wilson
The plaintiff in this case is Mike Flynn, who served in important roles in the Trump 1.0 administration, got fired, and received a Trump pardon. I previously blogged his lawsuit against CNN. The defendants include Rick Wilson, a Lincoln Project…
Suspended Twitter User Loses Lawsuit Due to Section 230–Ryan v. X
[This blog post covers two decisions in the same lawsuit: the ruling on X’s initial motion to dismiss from September, which apparently never triggered my Westlaw or Lexis alerts, and then a ruling on X’s motion to dismiss the amended…
DC Circuit Says the TikTok Ban Is Censorship, But Upholds It Anyway–TikTok v. Garland
The D.C. Circuit held that Congress’ TikTok ban survived a variety of Constitutional challenges, including a First Amendment challenge, even if strict scrutiny applies. The decision will be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, with uncertain prospects, so this is…
Attempt to Weaponize Section 230(c)(2)(B) Fails on Ripeness Grounds–Zuckerman v. Facebook
Ethan Zuckerman, a professor at UMass Amherst, wants to code and offer an app he calls Unfollow Everything 2.0, “which would automate the process of unfollowing friends, groups, and pages on a user’s Facebook social media profile.” Because he expects…
High School Can Discipline Student for Undisclosed Use of Generative AI–Harris v. Adams
RNH was a junior last year at Hingham High School in Massachusetts. He got a perfect ACT store and hopes for early admission to Stanford. The school repeatedly told students about limitations on the use of Generative AI for school…
Section 230 Applies to Gamer’s Complaints About Griefing–Haymore v. Amazon
This is a pro se/in pro per lawsuit. Andrew Grant Haymore played the MMORPG “New World” and used the New World discord server, from which he was banned. He alleges the ban diminished his investment of 10k hours and $1,700…
Section 230 Immunizes OnlyFans for User-Uploaded Video–Doe v. Fenix
[Trump came close to repealing Section 230 in the 2020 lame-duck Congressional session (while he was also busy fomenting the J6 insurrection). With him returning to the presidency, the odds are extremely high that he will finish this project and…
CA Anti-SLAPP Law Applies to #MeToo Instagram Post–Nelson v. Bridgers
This case involves three people: Chris Nelson, “a well-established music industry entrepreneur.” Emily Bannon, an alleged former girlfriend and victim of Nelson’s behavior. Phoebe Bridgers (photo on the right), “a singer, songwriter, and guitarist” with a large Instagram audience. Nelson…