Trump’s Retweets Are Criminal Contempt of a Gag Order–People v. Trump
As you surely know, the state of New York is prosecuting Donald Trump for allegedly falsifying business records in connection with the hush-payments to Stormy Daniels. The judge overseeing the case is well aware of Trump’s shambolic approach to high-stakes…
Why Generative AI is Doomed
I was honored to deliver this year’s Nies Lecture at Marquette University Law School, with the provocative (but, I hope, accurately descriptive) title “Generative AI is Doomed.” My remarks. This is my first contribution to the AI academic literature. As…
Zuckerberg Avoids Personal Liability for Social Media “Addiction”–In re Social Media Addiction
I never blogged the dual state and federal rulings in the Social Media Addiction cases from last Fall. I wrote up a 4,000 word draft about the state court ruling, but the federal ruling came out before I finished it….
Jawboning Defendants Are 6-for-6 in the Ninth Circuit–Hart v. Facebook
This is a routine jawboning case. Facebook and Twitter allegedly shut down Hart’s accounts for disseminating COVID misinformation. Hart claims he was targeted by the government. The district court dismissed the case (1, 2). The Ninth Circuit affirms in a…
Section 230 Applies to Tweeted Links to Defamatory Content–Coomer v. Donald J. Trump for President
This is another election integrity case. The plaintiff, Eric Coomer, worked for Dominion Voting. A conspiracy theory alleged that he planned to throw the 2020 presidential election against Trump. He sued various conspiracy theory traffickers for defamation. You would recognize…
Section 230 Preempts Clean Air Act Lawsuit Over “Defeat Device” Apps—U.S. v. EZ Lynk
This case involves “defeat devices.” When installed on a car, they suppress or bypass emission controls designed to protect the environment. It’s terrible that anyone uses defeat devices because we urgently must do more, not less, to prevent climate change….
YouTube Defeats Claim Over Content Removal/Demonetization–Haocheng v. YouTube
Haocheng ran several monetized channels on YouTube. He claims that the Chinese Communist Party submitted takedown demands targeting his content, which YouTube ultimately honored. He sued YouTube claiming that the content removals breached YouTube’s contract. YouTube easily wins. The plaintiff…
New Essay Comparing “Due Process” Approaches in the DMCA and DSA
As you know, I am not a fan of the EU’s DSA. Without First Amendment guardrails in the EU, the DSA represents a comprehensive government intrusion into the editorial processes of UGC services–with surely more intrusions to come. This will…
Court Says Twitter Misused Litigation to Punish Defendants for Their Speech–X v. CCDH
Self-proclaimed free-speech absolutist Elon Musk is notoriously thin-skinned when it comes to criticism directed at him. (As the phrase goes, “he can dish it out, but he can’t take it“). This well-publicized lawsuit is an example of Musk waging lawfare…
Section 230 Applies to Claims Over Hijacked Accounts (Except Maybe Verified Accounts)–Wozniak v. YouTube
More Bitcoin litigation 🙄. This time, malefactors hijacked popular YouTube channels and uploaded videos promoting Bitcoin scams: First, scammers will breach YouTube’s security to unlawfully gain access to verified and popular YouTube channels with tens or hundreds of thousands of…