Court Holds That Section 230’s Carve Out for “intellectual Property” Does Not Apply to Publicity Rights Claim in New York
- Section 230 of the Communications and Decency Act provides broad immunity to online platforms for claims arising from hosting third-party content (though just how broad is a hot issue that the Supreme Court may decide this term in Gonzalez v. Google LLC ). But... ›
Supreme Court to Address Section 230 for First Time
By: Aaron P. Rubin, J. Alexander Lawrence and Dillon Kraus
On October 3, 2022, the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari in Gonzalez v. Google LLC , No.1-1333 , to address the scope of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. The Court will consider whether Section 230(c)(1) immunizes website operators and other online... ›Ninth Circuit Interprets FOSTA Restriction on Section 230 Narrowly
On October 24, 2022, the Ninth Circuit ruled that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act shielded Reddit Inc. from liability under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPA). The court considered the text of a 2018 amendment to Section 230, known as the... ›Ninth Circuit’s Snap Decision Limits Section 230 Immunity
By: J. Alexander Lawrence
A recent ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Lemmon v. Snap provides a reminder that while Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act provides broad immunity to the owners and operators of websites and mobile apps, that immunity is not without... ›Social Links: Internet law under Biden; new tech-laws around the world; the UK’s Endorsement Guides
By: Anthony M. Ramirez
Experts anticipate that the incoming Biden administration will be tough on tech. What does that mean for the future of §230 of the Communications Decency Act? The antitrust suit against Google? This NPR piece makes some predictions. Human rights activists are outraged over a... ›Social Links: Avoid becoming a social-media-scam victim; does stream-ripping site violate copyright law?
By: Julie O'Neill
Reports of social media scams that have caused users to lose money had tripled by the end of 2020’s second quarter, resulting in the loss of $117 million during the first two quarters of this year alone. Romance scams and supposed economic relief offers... ›New copyright registration option for bloggers; AT&T’s opinion on CDA §230; questions about YouTube’s anti-hate rules
By: Aaron P. Rubin
A federal district court judge in Brooklyn, N.Y., dismissed the complaint in a case filed by Genius , a platform that lets users share and annotate lyrics, holding that the plaintiff’s claims were preempted by copyright law. The suit alleged that Google had stolen... ›EDNY Refuses to Dismiss on § 230 Grounds in “Shitty Media Men” Defamation Case
By: Aaron P. Rubin
In Elliott v. Donegan , a federal district court in New York held that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act does not warrant the dismissal of a defamation claim where the plaintiff’s complaint did not “foreclose[] the possibility that Defendant created or developed... ›District Court in 3rd Circuit Sides with 9th Circuit: §230 Protects Social Platforms from State Law Intellectual Property Claims
By: Evangeline Phang
It is another win for social media platforms in the realm of the Communications Decency Act’s Section 230. In a case of first impression within the Third Circuit, the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in Hepp v. Facebook ruled that social media platforms are immune... ›FTC questions protections afforded tech platforms; LinkedIn was platform of choice for sellers of COVID-19 PPE; Appeals court passes on “retweet” propriety question
By: Julie O'Neill
Expressing concern about the spread of disinformation related to COVID-19, Federal Trade Commissioner Rohit Chopra said Congress may need “to reassess the special privileges afforded to tech platforms, especially given their vast power to curate and present content in ways that may manipulate users.”... ›