“Twitter Files” Don’t Help Revive Jawboning Case–Hart v. Facebook
I previously described this lawsuit: Both Facebook and Twitter restricted Hart’s account access due to various posts over COVID, masking, and other culture war issues. Hart sued them for violating the First Amendment. You can guess how that went. Hart…
Section 230 Immunizes Bing’s Search Results–White v. Microsoft
This lawsuit relates to an episode of the TV show Evil Lives Here called “I Invited Him In,” which discusses an NY serial killer named Nathaniel White. A different Nathaniel White claimed that the episode improperly featured his mugshot and…
Twitter Account Suspension Lawsuits Keep Failing–Hall v. Twitter
This case involves a Twitter account held by Daniel Hall, who also used the aliases “Senza Vergogna” and “Sensa Verogna.” [Note: I believe those aliases reference an Italian movie about a son who engages in incest with his mom.] Hall…
Privacy Law Is Devouring Internet Law (and Other Doctrines)…To Everyone’s Detriment
What does “privacy” mean? It’s a simple question that lacks a single answer, even from privacy experts. Without a universally shared definition of privacy, scholars have instead attempted to “define” privacy by taxonomizing problems that they think should fit under…
Another Jawboning Case Fails in the Ninth Circuit–Kennedy v. Warren
This case involves a book called “The Truth About COVID-19: Exposing the Great Reset, Lockdowns, Vaccine Passports, and the New Normal,” which includes a foreword from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Sen. Warren wrote a letter to Amazon expressing “concerns” about…
The Ninth Circuit’s FOSTA Jurisprudence Is Getting Clearer (and More Defense-Favorable)
As you know, FOSTA was a poorly drafted statute with terrible policy outcomes. We’re still working through the first wave of litigation testing Congress’ poor handiwork. Last October, in Doe v. Reddit, the Ninth Circuit issued an important ruling interpreting…
Minnesota’s Attempt to Copy California’s Constitutionally Defective Age Appropriate Design Code is an Utter Fail (Guest Blog Post)
by guest blogger Jess Miers, Legal Advocacy Counsel at Chamber of Progress [Eric’s intro: last year I blogged about Minnesota’s flirtation with mandatory age verification. That proposal died, but it’s a new year and legislatures around the country are back…
Microsoft Can Terminate User Account for Allegedly Possessing CSAM. But What If It Made a Mistake?–Deutsch v. Microsoft
The plaintiff (a NY lawyer/financial executive?) allegedly uploaded CSAM to his Microsoft OneDrive folder in violation of Microsoft’s “Code of Conduct.” [Nomenclature note: CSAM is what used to be called child porn; the case calls it CSEAI]. Allegedly, PhotoDNA detected…
Twitter Defeats Account Suspension Case–Craft v. Musk
The opinion summarizes the allegations: Defendants Twitter, Inc. and its CEO, Elon Musk, violated his First Amendment rights by blocking his Twitter account twice, for a period of seven days each, in February and March 2023. According to Plaintiff, he…
Prison Warden Says: ‘Lock The Emojis Up.’ Court Replies: ‘Free the Emojis’–Taliani v. Dortch
Prisoners have limited free speech rights. Among other things, their outgoing written communications are typically reviewed before sending. The Hill Correctional Center in Illinois bans prisoners from sending “coded” messages that the reviewers can’t understand. (I imagine other prisons have…