Section 230 Helps Substack Defeat a Defamation Claim–Smith v. Substack
This case involves the CancelWatch “blog” on Substack, which says: “We report the activists trying to ruin people’s lives and careers.” In July 2023, it made a post entitled “Oliver D. Smith” that details Smith’s online activities and explains why…
Section 230 Doesn’t Preempt Utah’s Minor Protection in Social Media Act–NetChoice v. Reyes
Utah passed a terrible law claiming to be “for the kids,” which are increasingly prevalent at the state level. The court summarizes some of the law’s obligations: the Act requires covered websites to “implement an age assurance system,” “limit the…
Court Blows Up Gmail’s Section 230 Protection, But Allegations of Biased Spam Filtering Still Fail–Republican National Committee v. Google
Prior blog post. If I say so myself, it was a really good post–you should read it first and then read this post. In my prior post, I wrote: “I hope you enjoy these 2,800 words on legal topics you…
Section 230 Preempts FOSTA Claim–Doe v. WebGroup Czech Republic
This is a FOSTA case. It reached the 9th Circuit on personal jurisdiction grounds. The 9th Circuit held that some foreign defendants were subject to jurisdiction. On remand, the court dismisses the remaining defendants primarily due to Section 230, with…
Section 230 Preempts Two More Harassment Lawsuits
Recapping a couple of doomed-from-inception lawsuits. Benedict v. Google LLC, 2024 WL 3427161 (D. Ariz. July 16, 2024) Lance Benedict is a musician. Someone attacked him on the heavy metal website “All That Shreds” (apparently gone now), posting allegedly doctored…
What Happened to Gonzalez v. Google After the SCOTUS Decision?
In the mid-2010s, plaintiffs filed about 20 lawsuits filed around the country seeking to hold social media services liable for allegedly facilitating terrorist attacks. Two of those cases, Gonzalez v. Google and Taamneh v. Twitter, produced Supreme Court rulings last…
Facebook Isn’t Subject to the ADA–Lloyd v. Facebook
Lloyd brought a pro se lawsuit against Facebook raising a myriad of concerns. My prior blog post. The Ninth Circuit easily dismisses most of it in a breezy memorandum opinion, but the contract claim gets revived for a little longer….
DMCA 512(c) Helps Redbubble Defeats Copyright Lawsuit–Wallshoppe v. Redbubble
Wallshoppe makes wallpaper with copyrighted designs, such as the “Pacifico Palm Design” depicted to the right. It has a copyright registration in the design. Wallshoppe found Redbubble merchants selling the design. However, for unspecified reasons, Wallshoppe didn’t submit proper DMCA…
Justice Thomas Hates on Section 230. Again.–Doe v. Snap
I previously described this case: A high school teacher allegedly used Snapchat to groom a sophomore student for a sexual relationship. (Atypically, the teacher was female and the victim was male, but the genders are irrelevant to this incident). The…
Plaintiffs Lack Standing to Sue Over Government Jawboning When Their Evidence is Based on Vibes–Murthy v. Missouri
In a well-functioning society, governments and the private sector will engage in an ongoing dialogue about public welfare issues. Much of this conversation is healthy and productive, as both the government and the private sector have different expertise and different…