DC Circuit Upholds FOSTA’s Constitutionality (By Narrowing It)–Woodhull v. U.S.
FOSTA is terrible social policy that hurt multiple communities without clearly benefiting any community, but its bad results don’t automatically make it unconstitutional. In response to a facial constitutional challenge to FOSTA, the DC Circuit upheld the law after making…
Armslist Defeats Lawsuits Over Illegal Gun Sales (Without Section 230’s Help)–Webber v. Armslist
Armslist publishes users’ classified ads for guns. Two estates sued Armslist for allegedly facilitating illegal gun sales that led to murders. My blog post on the district court rulings. Section 230’s availability in such situations is uncertain, but on appeal,…
Court Finally Rejects “Discrimination” Lawsuit Against YouTube–Divino v. Google
This long-running lawsuit started in 2019. When I first blogged this case in January 2021, I wrote: This lawsuit, like many others before it, claims that UGC services like YouTube commit illegal discrimination based on how they moderate content. Despite…
Reddit Defeats Lawsuit Over Removal of r/WallStreetBets Moderator’s Privileges–Rogozinski v. Reddit
Jaime Rogozinski, a/k/a “jartek,” created the r/WallStreetBets subreddit, which became notorious for (among other lowlights) its role as a venue for hyping meme stocks like Gamestop. Rogozinski sought a trademark registration for the term “WallStreetBets” and published a book with…
How Will the Digital Services Act (DSA) Affect the European Internet?
I expect the Digital Services Act (DSA) to be one of the most consequential regulations of the Internet. Yet, I have so far avoided blogging the DSA because it’s so overwhelming and complex. Its breathtaking/mind-numbing scope and detail reminds me…
Why I Oppose the California Journalism Protection Act (the Short Version)
I recently wrote a lengthy blog post explaining the many problems with the California Journalism Protection Act (JCPA), AB 886. I submitted a letter of opposition to the Senate Judiciary Committee with just some quotable lowlights. My letter: __ CJPA…
Uh-Oh, the Ninth Circuit Is Messing Again With Its Roommates Ruling–Vargas v. Facebook
The Roommates.com case plays a critical role in the Ninth Circuit’s Section 230 jurisprudence. The (unnecessarily confusing) majority opinion suggested several exclusions to Section 230’s immunity, including these statements: “If you don’t encourage illegal content, or design your website to…
It Turns Out You Can’t “Sue the CDA”–Fyk v. US
Jason Fyk’s recent litigation campaign reminds me of the classic story Moby Dick, with Fyk in the Captain Ahab role and Section 230 as his white whale. The Netflix documentary of his story will be called “Moby Fyk.” In his…
California’s Proposed Fix to the Journalism Crisis Is Unconstitutional and Worse Than Socialism (Comments on the California Journalism Protection Act, CJPA)
The California legislature is competing with states like Florida and Texas to see who can pass laws will be more devastating to the Internet. California’s latest entry into this Internet death-spiral is the California Journalism Protection Act (CJPA, AB 886)….
Politician-Operated Social Media Accounts Raise Many Thorny Legal Issues
In February, Justice Kagan joked that the Supreme Court justices “are not the nine greatest experts on the Internet.” That is certainly true–for example, the justices cannot publicly engage in ordinary social media interactions–yet the justices are getting a crash…