OpenAI’s AI products use “stolen" personally identifiable information (PII) from “hundreds of millions of internet users,” including children, without their "informed consent or knowledge," alleged a class action Tuesday (docket 3:24-cv-01190) in U.S. District Court for Northern California in San Francisco.
California’s social media transparency law, AB-587, violates the First Amendment’s “stringent prohibition on viewpoint discrimination,” said UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh in a Feb. 21 amicus brief (docket 24-271) at the 9th U.S. Circuit Appeals Court. Volokh’s brief supports X’s appeal to reverse the district court’s denial of its injunction to block California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) from enforcing AB-587 (see 2401190038).
If the U.S. Supreme Court blocks social media laws in Florida and Texas, it could have a chilling effect on states trying to regulate online content, a panel of experts said Tuesday. Speaking at a Federalist Society webinar event, panelists said a ruling bolstering the tech industry’s First Amendment rights could jeopardize the constitutionality of laws aimed at regulating kids’ online safety. The Supreme Court held oral argument Monday in NetChoice v. Paxton (22-555) and Moody v. NetChoice (22-277) (see 2402260051).
It’s possible social media platforms could be considered common carriers when delivering emails or direct messages, the U.S. Supreme Court's conservative justices said Monday.
Expect a U.S. Supreme Court majority to side with the tech industry in its content moderation fight against social media laws in Florida and Texas, experts told us in interviews last week.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Appeals Court will hold in abeyance, pending the U.S. Supreme Court’s decisions in the NetChoice challenges of the Florida and Texas social media laws, New York Attorney General Letitia James’ appeal to lift the district court’s injunction that blocks her from enforcing New York’s Hateful Conduct Law, Section 394-ccc, said a 2nd Circuit clerk’s order Friday (docket 23-356). SCOTUS plans oral argument Monday on the tandem NetChoice challenges.
California’s social media transparency law, AB-587, “reflects a growing trend of government interference in the private editorial judgments” of businesses that operate on the internet, said the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in an amicus brief Wednesday (docket 24-271) at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in support of X’s appeal to block California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) from enforcing it (see 2401160031).
Here are Communications Litigation Today's top stories from last week, in case you missed them. Each can be found by searching on its title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The U.S. Supreme Court granted U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar’s Jan. 22 motion for leave to participate as an amicus in oral argument on behalf of NetChoice and the Computer & Communications Industry Association in their challenges to the Florida and Texas social media content moderation laws, said separate text-only docket entries Friday (dockets 22-277 and 22-555). NetChoice and CCIA agreed to cede 10 minutes of their argument time to Prelogar (see 2401230037). Oral argument in the tandem cases is set for Monday.
Both sides during oral argument Friday at the 2nd U.S. Circuit Appeals Court in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ (D) appeal to reverse the injunction that bars her from enforcing New York’s Hateful Conduct Law (see 2310160001) gave less than definitive answers when asked by the three-judge panel whether a ruling in James’ appeal should await the U.S. Supreme Court's resolution of NetChoice’s First Amendment challenges to the Florida and Texas social media content-moderation laws (see 2311300012).