2023 Internet Law Year-in-Review
My roundup of the top Internet Law developments of 2023: 10) California court bans targeted advertising (?). Regulators have sought to suppress online targeted advertising for years, with only minimal success. Then, in Liapes v. Facebook, a California appeals court…
2023 Quick Links: Social Media
Facebook * Meta Platforms, Inc. v. District of Columbia, 2023 WL 5964764 (D.C. Ct. App. Sept. 14, 2023). This is the latest ruling in an investigation by DC Attorney General into Meta’s content moderation practices, especially regarding COVID-19 policies. “The…
Facebook Defeats Lawsuit Over Its January 6 Explanation–Mahoney v. Meta
The court summarizes the allegations: Plaintiff Genevieve Mahoney is a college student at Furman University who has an Instagram account with the username @genmahoney19. Mahoney attended what she describes as a “Rally” to protest the results of the 2020 United…
2023 Quick Links: Censorship
Age Authentication * Axios: “Tech platforms struggle to verify their users’ age.” The article didn’t mention that mandatory online age authentication is also unconstitutional. * Guardian: Australia will not force adult websites to bring in age verification due to privacy…
Ninth Circuit Confusion About Moderators and Section 230–Quinteros v. Innogames
I previously blogged this case in 2022. I summarized: This lawsuit involves the freemium videogame “Forge of Empires.” The plaintiff, Penny Quinteros (a/k/a TwoCents), claims she became addicted to the game. She played the game virtually every day from 2016-19–over…
Court Enjoins Ohio’s Law Requiring Parental Approval for Children’s Social Media Accounts–NetChoice v. Yost
Ohio enacted a law, the “Parental Notification by Social Media Operators Act,” Ohio Rev. Code § 1349.09. The law requires certain websites and services to obtain verifiable parental consent before children are allowed to register or create an account. The…
Judge Goes Rogue and Rejects Snap’s Section 230 Defense for [Reasons]–Neville v. Snap
The plaintiffs are parents of Snapchat users who purchased fentanyl from other Snapchat users and suffered overdoses. They sued Snapchat for a wide ranges of tort claims. To get around the clear Section 230 barrier to those claims, the plaintiffs…
Grindr Defeats FOSTA Claim–Doe v. Grindr
This case (like many I’m covering nowadays) involves heartbreaking facts, but from a legal standpoint, it was never meritorious. Doe created a Grindr account at age 15 (Doe claimed he was 18). He matched with 4 men. “Doe met each…
2023 Quick Links: Section 230
[My Quick Links publication process is broken. Once-a-year postings aren’t very useful LOL.] * Palmer v. Savoy, 2021 N.C. Super. LEXIS 236 (N.C. Superior Ct. July 28, 2021). Snap qualified for Section 230 protection despite the plaintiffs’ invocation of the Lemmon design…
Many Fifth Circuit Judges Hope to Eviscerate Section 230–Doe v. Snap
I previously covered the district court ruling in this case. I summarized: A high school teacher allegedly used Snapchat to groom a sophomore student for a sexual relationship. (Atypically, the teacher was female and the victim was male, but the…