Cable News Shows Are Defamation-Free Zones–OANN v. Maddow
This lawsuit involves the Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC. Based on a story from the Daily Beast, Maddow ran a segment claiming that an OANN employee was on the Kremlin’s payroll, concluding that OANN “really literally is paid Russian propaganda.”…
Facebook Defeats Lawsuit Over Discriminatory Housing Ads–Vargas v. Facebook
This lawsuit alleges that Facebook is liable for Fair Housing Act discrimination purportedly enabled by its self-service advertising tools. The court grants Facebook’s motion to dismiss the Third Amended Complaint. I believe this case is now ready for a Ninth…
Court Nopes Another Lawsuit Over Facebook Suspensions–Orders v. Facebook
Plaintiff Frank Orders “posted a picture of Hunter Biden with two prostitutes on his Facebook page. The black-and-white picture attached to the Complaint shows a male lying naked on a bed with two naked females sitting on top of the…
Section 230 Doesn’t Protect Yearbook Website’s Ads–Knapke v. Classmates
Classmates offers paywalled access to yearbook info. Classmates allows free searches, and the “search results provide a free preview of the services and products with a photo and name of an individual to entice the user to purchase Classmates’ services…
An Initial Look at Washington’s New Anti-SLAPP Statute
Washington’s anti-SLAPP statute was struck down by the Washington State Supreme Court in May 2015. Effective July 25, 2021, Washington has a new anti-SLAPP statute. My summary of the statute: Scope of coverage: The statute applies to causes of action…
Interview About Section 230 and COVID Misinformation
[I did another interview with Mathew Ingram at Galley by CJR] Ingram: Eric, thanks very much for doing this. I know we’ve discussed Section 230 before on Galley, so I don’t want to go over old ground, but is there…
Blogger Defeats Defamation Claims–Buckley v. Moore
The plaintiff Buckley runs “Top Gun Options,” a site that purportedly teaches users how to trade options. The defendant Moore runs a blog called “TradingSchools.org,” which purportedly does independent reviews of investment products. Moore shot down Top Gun Options in…
Conservative’s Lawsuit Over Google Deindexing Fails–DJ Lincoln v. Google
This is yet another #MAGA lawsuit. The plaintiff claimed that Google deindexed conservatives in a biased way. This particular plaintiff chose perhaps the least likely path to advance that claim, emphasizing RICO claims. As we all know, it’s never civil…
Second Circuit Rejects an Account Termination Lawsuit…Again (Phew!)–Domen v. Vimeo
Domen posted videos advocating for sexual orientation change efforts (SOCE). Vimeo terminated his account. Domen sued Vimeo for the termination, alleging that it discriminated against him. The district court dismissed Domen’s complaint. The Second Circuit affirmed, in a precedent-setting opinion…
New Essay: “Five Things to Know About Section 230”
At the request of Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), a Canadian think-tank, I wrote a short essay called “Five Things to Know About Section 230.” It’s a brief-and-breezy overview of Section 230 to get Canadian readers up-to-speed on our…