JONES DAY PRESENTS®: Section 230: A Springboard to a First Amendment Discussion
New Developments in the World of Section 230
Trump vs. Twitter: The Feud Over Section 230 and Online Censorship
The Internet makes it easier than ever to connect with people around the world, share ideas and information, and have their voices heard regardless of whether they are a single individual with limited resources or a massive...more
On July 14, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued an administrative stay of an order that would prohibit certain federal officials and agencies from communicating with social media companies on content...more
The Supreme Court this term elevated First Amendment values over anti-discrimination laws and stalking statutes in two important cases. The most far-reaching case, 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, decided that a website designer...more
While some people thrive in the land of TikTok dances, others struggle to limit their thoughts to 140 characters leading Twitter to increase their character limit to 280 in 2017. In fact, as of February 2019 Internet users...more
Jones Day's Alexander Maugeri explains Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, how it potentially affects content on the internet, and why possible reforms must be balanced with free speech concerns. (Transcription)...more
Over the past several years, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, the federal law that provides social media platforms with immunity from liability for user content and was once hailed as “the law that gave us the...more
In the past month, there have been some notable developments surrounding Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (“CDA” or “Section 230”) beyond the ongoing debate in Congress over the potential for legislative reform....more
In the current environment of reckoning for the societal power of Big Tech, one threat seems ever-present on the tongues of those who would cut these companies down to size. Enacting this threat is likely to have the opposite...more
While this was a big week for the United States Supreme Court with the confirmation of Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett, Justice Clarence Thomas’ written statement following the Court’s October 12, 2020, decision in...more
On Wednesday, October 28, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation held a much-anticipated hearing titled, “Does Section 230’s Sweeping Immunity Enable Big Tech Bad Behavior?” The witness line-up featured...more
As part of Spilman's Decoded: Technology Law Insights e-newsletter, Spilman members Joseph Schaeffer and Nick Mooney discuss Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and how it plays into President Trump's recent...more
A New Lawsuit Against Trump’s Section 230 Executive Order Argues It Chills Speech about Voting - "The suit accuses the president of using the order to retaliate against Twitter, infringing on the public's right to receive...more
Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (“CDA”), 47 U.S.C. §230, enacted in 1996, is often cited as the most important law supporting the Internet, e-commerce and the online economy. Yet, it continues to be subject to...more
Despite continued scrutiny over the legal immunity online providers enjoy under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA), online platforms continue to successfully invoke its protections. This is illustrated by...more
Three recent court decisions reaffirm the expansive immunity awarded to online providers that host third-party content under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (“CDA”), 47 U.S.C. § 230(c): California’s Superior...more
A California state appellate court sided with Twitter and put a halt to a lawsuit filed against the social media service by white nationalist Jared Taylor....more
As we have noted previously, the California Court of Appeal’s Hassell v. Bird decision in 2016 upholding an injunction requiring Yelp to remove certain user reviews was discouraging to social media companies and other online...more
In a closely-followed dispute, the California Supreme Court vacated a lower court order, based upon a default judgment in a defamation action, which had directed Yelp, Inc. (“Yelp”), a non-party to the original suit, to take...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 March, the Senate almost unanimously passed the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (“FOSTA”). On April 11, President Trump signed FOSTA into law. As the name implies, Congress’ goal is to give law...more
In an effort to deter hate groups from tweeting sanitized versions of their messages, Twitter has began considering account holders’ off platform behavior when the platform evaluates whether potentially harmful tweets should...more
In a decision that sets up a potential international comity showdown, a California district court granted Google’s request for a preliminary injunction preventing enforcement in the U.S. of a Canadian court order that...more
As expected, Airbnb filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on Monday seeking to enjoin the recently enacted amendments to the City’s so-called “Airbnb law.” The suit seeks to strike...more
On June 7, 2016, which also happens to be primary day in California, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to amend the City’s Residential Unit Conversion Ordinance (the so-called Airbnb Law) to require...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