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New Developments in the World of Section 230
PATIENT PRIVACY IN AN ERA OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Are websites legally responsible for content posted by their users?
Stealth Lawyer: Zach Abramowitz, 'Blogcaster'
In this second installment of our six-part series examining Section 230, the section of the 1996 Communications Decency Act (CDA) that immunizes online service providers from liability stemming from the publication and...more
The rise of artificial intelligence (“AI”) poses novel questions about whether internet technology companies will face liability for misinformation on their platforms. Internet companies have long been shielded from liability...more
The Federal Government has introduced the new Social Media (Anti-Trolling) Bill 2022 (Bill) which shifts publication liability from social media page owners to social media service providers (such as Facebook, Instagram and...more
If you own a small business, someone has likely posted an online review of your company and its goods or services. From Yelp to TripAdvisor to Angie’s List to any number of websites tailored to particular industries or...more
In what is one of the most recent attempts to circumvent the immunity provided in Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (“CDA” or “CDA Section 230”), the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts...more
A California attorney and her law firm filed a petition on October 18, 2018, asking the Supreme Court of the United States (“SCOTUS”) to review the California Supreme Court’s ruling that reversed an injunction that would have...more
People turn to the internet to find reputable businesses, compliment a local coffee shop, and even lambaste the service at a nearby restaurant. The ubiquitous influence of online ratings, rants, and reviews is felt by...more
In our Alerts dated June 22, 2016 and September 22, 2016, we followed the case of Hassell v. Bird where a lower court, in a matter involving a defamation action brought by a law firm (“Hassell”) against a disgruntled former...more
In a closely watched case, the California Supreme Court on Monday confirmed it will continue to broadly interpret the immunity provided by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, 47 U.S.C. § 230. Hassell v. Bird,...more
In a long-awaited decision, the California Supreme Court ruled this week that Yelp cannot be forced to remove a review posted on its website. Hassell v. Bird, 2018 WL 3213933 (Cal. Sup. Ct. July 2, 2018). Both the superior...more
The controversial consumer gripe site, RipoffReport.com, is at it again. The First Circuit recently affirmed a lower court’s ruling that RipoffReport.com was entitled to immunity under Section 230 of the Communications...more
What should you do if users start using your client’s website to post hateful, obscene or defamatory comments and images? User-posted content can damage your business image and, with the wrong set of facts, result in legal...more
2016 has been a challenging year for Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) and the website operators who depend on it for protection against liability stemming from user-generated content. An unusually large...more
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently kept alive one of the multitude of legal entanglements ensnaring Gawker Media LLC, as the Court reversed and remanded a lower court’s decision to dismiss a plaintiff’s defamation...more
Hospitality industry stakeholders who host sites for online reviews or rely on review sites such as Yelp, Trip Advisor, Urban Spoon, or Oyster, may take comfort in the recent Ninth Circuit decision regarding the liability of...more
A recent California court decision involving Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) is creating considerable concern among social media companies and other website operators....more
Whether you represent sports stars and high-profile entertainers, or hometown doctors, architects, and restaurateurs, you have almost certainly gotten calls in the past several years asking for your help in dealing with...more
Traditionally, media companies (as well as non-media companies) almost exclusively utilized their own content. However, because of the exponential growth in the public’s desire and ability to interconnect through social media...more
Last month, the Sixth Circuit ruled that website operators are not liable for content provided by others (User Generated Content or UGC) because of Section 230 immunity under the Communications Decency Act in the Jones v....more
You can rate your favorite pizza place online. Why not your ex-boyfriend? That’s the idea, at least, behind Lulu. The popular app allows women, verified through their Facebook profiles, to rate men using pre-written...more
The general legal advice to website operators who allowed User Generated Content (UGC) in the form of comments, videos or pictures used to be relatively easy....more
In a unanimous ruling issued on Thursday, Feb. 14, 2013, the England and Wales Court of Appeal held that Google may be deemed a “publisher” of (and held liable for) defamatory user-generated content appearing in blogs hosted...more