Roundup of 2023 Entertainment Law Cases: Analysis SAG/AFTRA and WGA contracts, No Parody of Iconic Sneaker, AI Copyright Highlights China vs US law; SCOTUS Bad Spaniel and Warhol/Prince.
JONES DAY PRESENTS®: Section 230: A Springboard to a First Amendment Discussion
Trump vs. Twitter: The Feud Over Section 230 and Online Censorship
Subro Sense Podcast - Unpacking Product Claims Against Amazon
Waldman: Stop Immunizing Websites That Allow Harassment
On June 30, 2025, the Honorable Paul Goetz of the New York Supreme Court held that plaintiff Norma Nazario’s lawsuit for the death of her son in a 2023 “subway surfing” incident could proceed against social media companies...more
State governments, public school districts, and individuals are suing social media companies, such as TikTok and Snapchat, alleging that defects in their algorithms and platform features cause psychological and physical harm,...more
There have been numerous developments in the online safety and data privacy space for minors in particular over the last few months. Here we cover some notable decisions in the federal courts and cases with nationwide...more
In Ryan v. X Corp., a Northern District of California court held that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act immunized X (formerly Twitter) against claims arising from suspension of a user’s account, notwithstanding...more
As proliferation of harmful content online has increasingly become easier and more accessible through social media, review websites and other online public forums, businesses and politicians have pushed to reform and limit...more
In a recent landmark decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled that TikTok could be held liable in a wrongful death suit stemming from the “Blackout Challenge” — a disturbing trend promoted through the...more
New Mexico AG Raúl Torrez has filed a lawsuit against Snap Inc., accusing Snapchat of facilitating child sexual exploitation and sextortion through its design features and recommendation algorithms, allegedly violating state...more
Last month, the Ninth Circuit reeled back protections for digital media platforms on which scam ads are found. Calise v. Meta Platforms, Inc., 103 F.4th 732 (9th Cir. 2024) Section 230(c)(1) of the Communications Decency Act...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
On July 1, 2024, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in Moody v. NetChoice, LLC that laws regulating large social media platforms passed by Texas and Florida likely offend the First Amendment in at least some...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
As the inherent risks of social media use become more broadly understood, pressure is building on government bodies at every level to enact effective regulations. There has been some action at the federal level: both the...more
Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (the “CDA” or “Section 230”), known prolifically as “the 26 words that created the internet,” remains the subject of ongoing controversy. As extensively reported on this blog, the...more
In our fourth installment of our six-part series examining Section 230—the segment of the 1996 Communications Decency Act (CDA) that immunizes online service providers from liability stemming from content created by third...more
In Rose Bui v. Ngo Ky (No. G062338, filed May 8, 2024 and certified for partial publication), the California Court of Appeal, Fourth District reversed a trial court’s grant of a special motion to strike Plaintiff’s complaint...more
A coalition of 20 Republican and three Democratic AGs submitted an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in the case Doe v. Snap, Inc., No. 23-961, urging the Court to grant petitioner’s writ of certiorari and reverse the...more
In the prior two installments 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
Recent Senate hearings on social media safety have spotlighted the urgent need to protect children online, a concern that’s increasingly challenging the legal frameworks governing online platforms. Against this backdrop, the...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
On Thursday, October 12, a bipartisan group of senators—Chris Coons (D-Del.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.)—released a Discussion Draft of the Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and...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
Here at Socially Aware we talk a lot about Section 230, the section of the 1996 Communications Decency Act (CDA) that immunizes social media platforms and other online service providers from liability stemming from content...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
Should tech companies be liable for the content their users post? They haven’t been, and after two Supreme Court decisions on May 18, they’ll continue not to be liable—a major win for tech companies....more
The U.S. Supreme Court decided two cases recently that left untouched Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which provides online platforms immunity from claims based on content that their users create and share on...more