The PLAN Act Proposes to Amend Section 230 to “Protect”…Landlords and Hotel Chains?
This is my third time in 2019 blogging proposed Section 230 amendments. The other two bills, from Sen. Hawley and Rep. Gosar, propose structural reforms to Section 230–to mandate political neutrality and ban any content moderation not required by law,…
Top Myths About Content Moderation
How Internet companies decide which user-submitted content to keep and which to remove—a process called “content moderation”—is getting lots of attention lately, for good reason. Under-moderation can lead to major social problems, like foreign agents manipulating our elections. Over-moderation can…
Section 230 Helps Tumblr Defeat Nonconsensual Pornography Suit–Poole v. Tumblr
This ruling came out in March, but it just showed up in my Westlaw alerts. I don’t know why it was delayed over 6 months. The opinion is topical and clear, so I thought it’s still worth blogging now. This…
More Teenagers Mistakenly Think “Private” Chat Conversations Will Remain Private–People v. JP
This is a story of four teenage girls and one teenage boy. The girls use the aliases “7Up” (a/k/a JP, the defendant in this case), “Lady Gaga,” “Dream Ruiner,” and “Me.” The boy, called S, allegedly engaged in anti-social behavior…
Section 230 Helps Search Engine Defeat “Right to Be Forgotten” Lawsuit–Mosha v. Yandex
Looking holistically at the broad arc of Internet Law history, I could make a good case that the EU’s Right to Be Forgotten marked the beginning of the end of the modern Internet. It was the first time that a…
Section 230 Applies to Facebook’s Post Removals and Account Suspensions–King v. Facebook
The court summarizes the facts: King alleges Facebook removed multiple posts by him, and temporarily suspended his Facebook access on several occasions in 2018, for posts that Facebook deemed a violation of its terms of service (“ToS”). The crux of…
Section 230 Protects HOA for Publishing Meeting Minutes–Eagle Ridge Townhouse Ass’n v. Snapp
The dispute involves Galena Territory, a community governed by a property owner’s association (GTA) with several subdivisions also managed by HOAs. Homeowners in those subdivisions are members of both their subdivision HOA and the GTA. One of the subdivision HOAs…
The Circuitous International Travel of Your Data (Guest Blog Post)
by guest blogger Marketa Trimble Most Internet users probably do not know where their online data (aka “cloud data”) reside. Even fewer users likely have any idea of the paths over which their data travel. It is not difficult to picture…
A Significant Section 230 Defense Win in the Ninth Circuit–Dyroff v. Ultimate Software
This is an important Section 230 ruling from the Ninth Circuit. First, it decisively rejects several of the flavor-of-the-month theories plaintiffs have advanced to eviscerate Section 230. Second, the opinion resolves those theories efficiently and with little wasted motion. That…
Another Politician Unconstitutionally Censored Constituents on Twitter–Campbell v. Reisch
This case involves yet another politician, Missouri Representative Cheri Toalson Reisch (who formerly tweeted @CheriMO44 but the account is currently gone), who blocked constituents on Twitter. I previously blogged this case in February, when the court rejected Rep. Reisch’s motion…