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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'
Courts around the country are grappling with Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Section 230 generally shields online platforms from liability for content posted by third-party users, but courts are now deciding if...more
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
Just twelve days after Supreme Court of the United States issued a per curiam decision in Gonzalez v. Google LLC, in which the Court declined to address the application of §230 of the Communications Decency Act, 47...more
Since the passage of Section 230 of the Communication Decency Act (“CDA”), the majority of federal circuits have interpreted the CDA to establish broad federal immunity to causes of action that would treat service providers...more
Online platforms that allow users to post content face a constant choice: to remove or to not remove, to police or not to police. Shakespearean allusions aside, platforms generally want user engagement — to reach as many...more
Section 230(c)(1) of the Communications Decency Act (codified at 47 U.S.C. § 230 (“Section 230”)) has long been credited for the boom of user generated content on the internet — the crux of social media that has driven the...more
While we are still in the infancy of the Biden Administration, it is clear that bipartisan desire to amend Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (“Section 230”) remains active. On February 8, 2021, Sen. Mark Warner...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
On September 4, 2019, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission announced Google and YouTube will pay a record $170 million as part of a settlement over allegations that YouTube violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act...more
A recent Second Circuit decision makes clear that the safe harbor that social media and other Internet companies enjoy under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act broadly applies to a wide variety of claims. ...more
In the swirl of scrutiny surrounding the big Silicon Valley tech companies and with some in Congress declaiming that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) should be curtailed, 2019 has quietly been an important...more
As we have frequently noted on Socially Aware, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act protects social media sites and other online platforms from liability for user-generated content. Sometimes referred to as “the law...more
In the past few months, there have been a number of notable decisions affirming broad immunity under the Communications Decency Act (CDA), 47 U.S.C. §230(c), for online providers that host third party content. The beat goes...more
Three recent court decisions affirmed the robust immunity under the Communications Decency Act (CDA), 47 U.S.C. §230(c), for online providers that host third-party content: the Second Circuit’s decision in Herrick v. Grindr...more
Sometimes, bad facts don’t make bad law. Two recent decisions confirm that a federal immunity protects websites from claims that they allowed their users to post content that ultimately caused injury or even death. ...more
Often hailed as the law that gave us the modern Internet, Section 230 of the Communication Decency Act generally protects online platforms from liability for content posted by third parties. Many commentators, including us...more
At the beginning of this year, internet companies found strengthened protection from liability for users’ sexual trafficking content thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision not to review a key First Circuit decision...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
Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act provides website operators who post user-generated content with broad immunity from most legal claims arising from that content. It is this broad protection that enables popular...more
2016 has been a tough year for a lot of reasons, most of which are outside the scope of this blog (though if you’d like to hear our thoughts about Bowie, Prince or Leonard Cohen, feel free to drop us a line). But one possible...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
Courts continue to struggle with the application of CDA immunity to shield service provider defendants from liability in extreme cases. In this case, the Washington Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision, affirmed the lower court’s...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