COVID Skeptic Loses Lawsuit Over Account Terminations--Hart v. Facebook

Both Facebook and Twitter restricted Hart’s account access due to various posts over COVID, masking, and other culture war issues. Hart sued them for violating the First Amendment. You can guess how that went. The court says they are not…

Twitter Defeats Trump's Deplatforming Lawsuit--Trump v. Twitter

In July 2021, Trump sued Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube for terminating/suspending his accounts. At the time, I made a 6-step prediction for how the lawsuits would go: Step 3 in the Twitter case, the transfer from Florida to California, occurred…

My Comments on the California Consumer Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) Rulemaking

[Today, I made brief remarks at the CPRA “stakeholder sessions” in the “dark patterns” session. My written transcript:] I’m Eric Goldman, a law professor at Santa Clara University School of Law, where I direct the school’s Privacy Law Certificate. My…

Section 512(c) Protects Pinterest Despite Its Algorithms--Davis v. Pinterest

“Plaintiff contends that Pinterest has infringed the copyrights of 51 of his works by displaying these works in proximity to advertisements and by displaying and distributing them to users via notifications.” The court gives this screenshot as an example. Davis’…

Facebook Can't Shake Publicity Rights Claim--Hepp v. Facebook

Third parties created ads featuring Hepp without her consent. From the complaint (Hepp is the upper right image; the photo was taken from security camera footage): Facebook ran some of the ads featuring Hepp’s image. The district court dismissed Hepp’s…

Once Again, LinkedIn Can't Use CFAA To Stop Unwanted Scraping--hiQ v. LinkedIn

The hiQ v. LinkedIn lawsuit started in 2017. In 2019, the Ninth Circuit upheld the district court’s injunction ruling in favor of hiQ. The Supreme Court vacated that decision and told the Ninth Circuit to reconsider its ruling in light…

Constitutional Challenge to FOSTA Fails--Woodhull v. US

The EFF is leading a constitutional challenge to FOSTA. The district court initially rejected standing, but the DC Circuit reversed that decision in 2020 and found standing for at least two plaintiffs. On remand, the district court rejects all of…

Account Suspension Lawsuit Against Twitter Survives Motion to Dismiss--Berenson v. Twitter

This case involves Alex Berenson, a one-time NY Times reporter who drifted into #MAGAland. On Twitter and elsewhere, Berenson downplayed the risks of COVID and questioned the safety of the COVID vaccines. Unlike most Twitter users, Berenson was high-profile enough…

Section 230 Helps Facebook Defeat Lawsuit Over Scam Ads--Calise v. Meta

The plaintiffs allege that Facebook runs third-party ads for scammy third-party merchant websites. One plaintiff claims a merchant didn’t send the ordered goods as described. Another plaintiff claimed that a merchant never sent any goods at all. The plaintiffs sued…

Another Failed Lawsuit Over Facebook's Content Removals--Brock v. Zuckerberg

Facebook allegedly removed 30+ of the plaintiff’s posts. The plaintiff sued Facebook for constitutional violations and other claims. The district court dismissed the lawsuit. The Second Circuit affirms. State Action. Brock argued that Facebook is a state actor because it is…