Mirroring Qualifies for Section 230–Monsarrat v. Newman
This case involves a LiveJournal community (the Davis Square community for Somerville, MA). In 2017, LiveJournal changed its policies. In response, Newman, the community moderator, copied all of the community’s posts and uploaded them to Dreamwidth–an action we used to…
Lawyer Can’t Sue Google for Bad Client Review–Lewis v. Google
Kerry Lewis is a lawyer. A putative client, “Lolo Mosby,” posted a zero-star rating and a negative review of him. I can’t find the review online, and the link in the court opinion no longer works. However, the complaint contains…
Court Rejects Parler’s Demand That Amazon Host Its Services
Parler, a self-described “conservative microblogging alternative and [competitor] to Twitter,” sued Amazon Web Services for suspending its service. Parler claimed (1) antitrust violations, (2) breach of contract, and (3) tortious interference. Parler sought a temporary restraining order (which the court…
Comments on the “Protecting Constitutional Rights from Online Platform Censorship Act”
A tsunami of new Section 230 reform bills is coming soon. The early previews suggest those bills will be just as terrible as the bills from the 116th Congress. This bill comes from Rep. DesJarlais (R-TN), who voted against certifying…
When Can a Politician Block Constituents on Social Media?–Garnier v. O’Connor-Ratcliff
This case involves a school district near San Diego. The plaintiffs are parents of kids in the school district. The defendants, O’Connor-Ratcliff and Zane, are elected school board members. The defendants blocked the plaintiffs on social media. In light of…
Section 230 Year-in-Review for 2020
Section 230 had such a drama-filled year that I decided to do a separate roundup, in addition to my annual Internet Law wrapup coming soon. (I know 2020 feels like it was a decade ago…) Trigger warning: this post is…
New Op-Ed: People Who Understand Section 230 Actually Love It
[Published in the San Jose Mercury-News, January 10, 2021] Section 230, which says that websites aren’t liable for third-party content, has developed an increasingly bad reputation. In December, Pres. Trump vetoed a critical $740 billion military funding bill because Congress…
2H 2020 Quick Links, Part 5 (Contracts, E-Commerce, Defamation, Censorship, & More)
Contracts * Kidstar v. Facebook, Inc., 2020 WL 4382279 (D.N.J. July 31, 2020). The plaintiff sued Facebook because he lost access to photos in his account. assuming, arguendo, that Plaintiff opened a Facebook account in 2004, the 2009 User Agreement…
More Plaintiffs (and Lawyers) Need To Be Reminded That YouTube Isn’t a State Actor–Divino v. Google
This lawsuit, like many others before it, claims that UGC services like YouTube commit illegal discrimination based on how they moderate content. Despite its lack of novelty, this lawsuit got some media coverage for two reasons: (1) most of the…
FTC’s Confusing Guidance on How Merchants Should Manage Their Consumer Reviews
This blog post covers an FTC closing letter. A few words about FTC closing letters if you’re not familiar with them. When the FTC staff open an investigation but then decide not to take action, staff issues a “closing letter”…