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Digital Media

May 2022

Section 230 Does Not Apply to Retweet Because Author Said He “Vouch[ed] for” the Retweeted Article

Sara Benson & Cindy Gierhart

The Court held that Section 230 “may provide immunity for someone who merely shares a link on Twitter” but “it does not immunize someone for making additional remarks that are allegedly defamatory.”

May 2022

Northern District of California Dismisses Case Against Facebook and Twitter

Allyson Veile and Maggie Strouse

The decision joins the growing collection of case law rejecting First Amendment claims against social media companies for exercising control over the content that appears on their platforms.

Apr 2022

Ninth Circuit Reaffirms CFAA Does Not Prohibit Web Scraping in hiQ v. LinkedIn  

Grayson Clary, Gillian Vernick and Gabe Rottman

The case was an important early test of Van Buren’s significance for scraping and other data journalism techniques.

Mar 2022

Ninth Circuit Affirms Ruling That Twitter’s Lawsuit Over Alleged Retaliation By Texas AG Is Unripe

Jeff Hermes

The Ninth Circuit ruled that a lawsuit filed by Twitter, alleging that it was the target of retaliation by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in violation of its First Amendment rights, was not “prudentially ripe.”

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Feb 2022

Ninth Circuit: FCC Stymied Its Own Ability to Block State Net Neutrality Rules

Jeff Hermes

In a precedential opinion, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the denial of a preliminary injunction against the enforcement of California’s state net neutrality rules, as set forth in the California Internet Consumer Protection and Net Neutrality Act of 2018.

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Jan 2022

Delaware Court Latest to Point the Twitter Finger: Tweets Can Constitute Actionable Expressions of Fact

Amy E. Pearl, John C. Connell, and Peter L. Frattarelli

In green lighting compliance with the subpoenas, the court found that tweets could constitute actionable expressions of fact sufficient to support a claim for defamation.

Dec 2021

Court Enjoins Texas Social Media “Censorship” Law

Avery Westerlund

Judge Pitman granted a preliminary injunction to prevent the Texas Attorney General from enforcing HB 20, which prohibits large social media platforms from “censoring” content based on “viewpoint.”

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Dec 2021

Professor Cass Sunstein on Falsity and Free Speech

The Harvard Law professor discusses his forthcoming book "Liars, Falsehoods and Free Speech in an Age of Deception" and many other topics in First Amendment law.

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Oct 2021

Third Circuit: Section 230 Does Not Bar Pennsylvania Statutory Right of Publicity Claim Against Facebook

Dori Hanswirth, Michael E. Kientzle, and Rachel Carpman

The Third Circuit split with a leading Ninth Circuit opinion holding that internet service providers are immune from all state intellectual property law claims.

Sep 2021

Landmark Defamation Decision in Australia Says You Are Liable for the Comment Section

Peter Bartlett and Tess McGuire

In a decision with far-reaching ramifications for social media engagement in Australia, the country's top court ruled that media companies may be liable for allegedly defamatory comments left by readers on their Facebook posts.