Trump’s “Preventing Online Censorship” Executive Order Is Pro-Censorship Political Theater
Introduction We all knew the day would come when the Trump Administration would try to censor the Internet. This was inevitable because of Trump’s dictatorial lust, his antipathy towards independent media sources that can hold him accountable for his actions,…
High School Can’t Expel Student for Sharing Memes in Private Snapchat Conversation–JS v. Manheim Township School District
During downtime at home, high schoolers JS and “Student 1” gossiped about their peer “Student 2” via private Snapchat. JS thought Student 2 looked like a school shooter based on his hair and his wearing a “Cannibal Corpse” t-shirt. (TIL:…
Another Suspended Twitter User Loses in Court–Wilson v. Twitter
Wilson says he used his Twitter account to express his heterosexuality and Christianity. Twitter suspended the account, allegedly for hateful conduct. Wilson tried creating new accounts but was blocked. Wilson sued Twitter pro se for hundreds of millions of dollars….
2H 2019 and Q1 2020 Quick Links, Part 7 (Content Moderation, Censorship, Defamation, & More)
Content Moderation * The Verge: The Terror Queue: These moderators help keep Google and YouTube free of violent extremism — and now some of them have PTSD * The Intercept: Trauma Counselors Were Pressured to Divulge Confidential Information About Facebook…
2H 2019 and Q1 2020 Quick Links, Part 6 (Pornography/CSAM)
* People v. Austin, 2019 IL 123910 (Ill. Sup. Ct. Oct. 18, 2019). Illinois Supreme Court upholds a sui generis anti-NCP law as constitutional: “the sharing of a private sexual image in a personal and direct communication with an intended…
Facebook Still Can’t Dismiss Sex Trafficking Victims’ Lawsuit in Texas State Court
Sex trafficking victims sued Facebook and Instagram in Texas state court for their alleged roles in the victimization. The victims’ claims are not FOSTA-based, even though the cases were filed after FOSTA became law. In May 2019, the trial court…
Section 230 Protects Hyperlinks in #MeToo “Whisper Network”–Comyack v. Giannella
This case involves what the defense calls a “whisper network,” described by Wikipedia as “an informal chain of information passed privately between women.” The subject of this whisper network is Comyack, a former bartender in New Jersey. However, the information…
2H 2019 and Q1 2020 Quick Links, Part 4 (Section 230)
* Clarks v. Private Money Goldmine, 2020 WL 949946 (D. Md. Feb. 26, 2020): Plaintiff does contend, however, that Website Defendants are also content providers, and therefore not entitled to immunity in this case, because they published the Listing, provided…
Craigslist Denied Section 230 Immunity for Classified Ads from 2008–ML v. Craigslist
FOSTA always targeted Backpage; but with Backpage gone before FOSTA became law, it seemed inevitable that plaintiffs would eventually figure out how to deploy FOSTA against other targets. Yet, if you’d asked me to name a top 100 list of…
2H 2019 and Q1 2020 Quick Links, Part 3 (FOSTA/Backpage)
* United States v. Lacey, 2019 WL 5448351 (D. Ariz. Oct. 24, 2019). The Backpage defendants were not able to dismiss the government’s prosecution: “the Government has met its burden of showing the fifty ads in the SI are for…