New Developments in the World of Section 230
Trump vs. Twitter: The Feud Over Section 230 and Online Censorship
In a rare example of bipartisan agreement, the dramatically named DEFIANCE (Disrupt Explicit Forged Images and Non-Consensual Edits) Act unanimously passed the Senate. The bill allows victims of AI-generated deepfake...more
Are social media companies more like newspapers or phone companies? This oft-debated question in social media legal circles, while seemingly trivial on the surface, represents a momentous debate over whether—and how...more
A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision may have substantial effects on social media censorship. Based on their content-moderation policies, social media platforms have taken actions to suppress certain categories of speech,...more
Social media companies have long moderated the type of content that appears on a person’s home page by, for instance, deleting explicit posts or “downgrading” posts containing misinformation. Based on the belief that these...more
Vaccine Exemption Policy Requiring Citation to Official Doctrine Violates First Amendment Madison Houghton and Nathan A. Adams IV In Does 1-11 v. Bd. of Regents of Univ. of Colorado, 100 F. 4th 1251 (10th Cir. 2024), former...more
“My freedom of speech stimulates your freedom to tell me I’m wrong.” – P.J. O’Rourke - In what is certainly the most important First Amendment decision of the term, if not recent memory, the US Supreme Court this summer will...more
The Supreme Court of the United States issued two decisions today: Murthy v. Missouri, No. 23-411: This case involves challenges to federal government communications with social media companies related to content...more
Welcome to the fourth issue of The Academic Advisor for 2024. We begin this edition with discussion of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. On April 19, 2024, the U.S. Department of Education released its...more
On March 20, 2024 the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously approved a privacy-related bill, H.R. 7520 (the “Data Broker Bill).” This comes on the heels of another privacy-related bill approved by the House on March 13,...more
The concepts of defamation and free speech often collide, raising questions about where the line should be drawn between the right to express oneself and the responsibility to prevent harm to others. While free speech is one...more
In its recent opinions in Linke v. Freed and O’Connor-Ratcliff v. Garnier, the U.S. Supreme Court considered if and when public officials violate the First Amendment rights of members of the public by blocking them from the...more
On Friday, March 15, a unanimous Supreme Court decided two companion cases (Lindke v. Freed and O’Connor-Ratcliff v. Garnier) that resolved a split in the Circuits concerning whether public officials can be held liable under...more
The U.S. Supreme Court has established guidelines for determining when a public official’s use of a private social media platform such as Facebook, X or Nextdoor constitutes public speech that cannot be censored. State and...more
Le 26 février 2024, le gouvernement fédéral a présenté le projet de loi C-63 (le « projet de loi »), qui édicterait la Loi sur les préjudices en ligne (la « Loi ») et établirait le premier régime fédéral visant à modérer le...more
On February 26, 2024, the federal government tabled Bill C-63 (Bill), which would enact the Online Harms Act (Act) and establish Canada’s first federal online content moderation regime....more
On February 26, 2024, the United States Supreme Court is set to hear oral argument in two cases currently before the Court, Moody v. NetChoice and NetChoice v. Paxton. At their core, these cases raise the question as to...more
Here are curated AG and federal regulatory news stories highlighting key areas in which state and federal regulators’ decisions are having an impact across the US: • AGs Ask FCC to Answer Their Call to Restrict Use of AI...more
19 Republican AGs, joined by Republican legislative leaders from Arizona, filed an amicus brief in U.S. Supreme Court cases Moody v. NetChoice and NetChoice v. Paxton, supporting Florida and Texas laws, respectively, that bar...more
Are Automakers Making Sufficient Efforts to Protect Customer Data? With the ever-expanding Internet of Things, data privacy is a growing concern in today’s digital age. The automotive industry is no exception. The National...more
21 Democratic AGs filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit asking it to overturn a preliminary injunction barring communication between federal officials and agencies and social-media...more
On March 30, 2023, the United States and over 20 additional Subscribing States released a "Code of Conduct for Enhancing Export Controls of Goods and Technology That Could be Misused and Lead to Serious Violations or Abuses...more
China's State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) recently issued the Measures for the Administration of Internet Advertising (New Measures), which will take effect on May 1, 2023, and replace the Interim Measures for...more
A recent and ongoing case, In re Murthy, regarding social media platforms’ censorship of free speech, included discovery from the White House Office of the Press Secretary. This discovery brings former Biden Press Secretary...more
In this edition of #NoFilter, we will examine a recent September 16, 2022, decision from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upholding a Texas state law impacting the power of social media platforms to moderate content on...more
On May 31, the US Supreme Court reinstated an injunction first implemented in December 2021 regarding HB 20, the Texas law prohibiting social media companies from certain content moderation based on viewpoints. Its decision...more