EFF to Third Circuit: TikTok Has Section 230 Immunity for Video Recommendations

EFF legal intern Nick Delehanty was the principal author of this post.EFF filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in support of TikTok’s request that the full court reconsider the case Anderson v. TikTok after a...

EFF to Federal Trial Court: Section 230’s Little-Known Third Immunity for User-Empowerment Tools Covers Unfollow Everything 2.0

EFF along with the ACLU of Northern California and the Center for Democracy...

Wanna Make Big Tech Monopolies Even Worse? Kill Section 230

It’s no fun when your friends ask you to take sides in their disputes. The plans for every dinner party, wedding, and even funeral arrive at a juncture where you find yourself thinking, “Dang, if I invite her, then he won’t come.”It’s even less...

Sunsetting Section 230 Will Hurt Internet Users, Not Big Tech 

As Congress appears ready to gut one of the internet’s most important laws for protecting free speech, they are ignoring how that law protects and benefits millions of Americans’ ability to speak online every day. The House Energy and Commerce...

EFF to California Appellate Court: Reject Trial Judge’s Ruling That Would Penalize Beneficial Features and Tools on Social Media

EFF legal intern Jack Beck contributed to this post.A California trial court recently departed from wide-ranging precedent and held that Snap, Inc., the maker of Snapchat, the popular social media app, had created a “defective” product by...

Podcast Episode: 'I Squared' Governance

Imagine a world in which the internet is first and foremost about empowering people, not big corporations and government. In that world, government does “after-action” analyses to make sure its tech regulations are working as intended, recruits...

Don’t Fall for the Latest Changes to the Dangerous Kids Online Safety Act 

The authors of the dangerous Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) unveiled an amended version this week, but it’s still an unconstitutional censorship bill that continues to empower state officials to target services and online content they do not like....

EFF, ACLU and 59 Other Organizations Demand Congress Protect Digital Privacy and Free Speech

Earlier this week, EFF joined the ACLU and 59 partner organizations to send a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer urging the Senate to reject the STOP CSAM Act. This bill threatens encrypted communications and free speech online, and...

EFF to 9th Circuit: App Stores Shouldn’t Be Liable for Processing Payments for User Content

EFF filed a brief this week in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit arguing that app stores should not be liable for user speech just because they recommend that speech or process payments for those users. Those stores should be...

DC Circuit FOSTA Ruling Lets a Bad Law Stay on the Books, But Offers Meaningful Protection for Some Sex Work Forums and Sex Workers Using Online Services

The Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on July 7 affirmed the dismissal of Woodhull Freedom Foundation v. US, the constitutional challenge to FOSTA. That’s certainly disappointing: this bad law will now stay on the books.But the good news is...

The Internet Dodges Censorship by the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court today refused to weaken one of the key laws supporting free expression online, and recognized that digital platforms are not usually liable for their users’ illegal acts, ensuring that everyone can continue to use those services...

Podcast Episode: Safer Sex Work Makes a Safer Internet

An internet that is safe for sex workers is an internet that is safer for everyone. Though the effects of stigmatization and criminalization run deep, the sex worker community exemplifies how technology can help people reduce harm, share support,...

Bad Content Moderation Is Bad, And Government Interference Can Make It Even Worse

This week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing titled “Preserving Free Speech and Reining in Big Tech Censorship.” Lawmakers at the hearing trotted out the usual misunderstandings of these concepts, and placed the blame on...

This Texas Bill Would Systematically Silence Anyone Who Dares to Talk About Abortion Pills

Texas State Representative Steve Toth recently introduced a bill that targets the most viable form of safe and effective abortion access today—medication abortion.House Bill (HB) 2690 seeks to prevent the sale and distribution of abortion pills...

Section 230 is On Trial. Here's What You Need to Know.

The Supreme Court next week will hear two cases — Gonzalez v. Google on Tuesday, Feb. 21, and Twitter v. Taamneh on Wednesday, Feb. 22 — that could dramatically affect users’ speech rights online. Nearly everyone who speaks online relies on...

EFF Tells Supreme Court: User Speech Must Be Protected

The Supreme Court is about to hear a case that could dramatically affect users’ speech rights online. EFF has filed a brief explaining what’s at stake, and urging the court to preserve the key law protecting user expression, 47 U.S.C § 230...

User Generated Content and the Fediverse: A Legal Primer

A growing number of people are experimenting with federated alternatives to social media like Mastodon, either by joining an “instance” hosted by someone else or creating their own instance by running the free, open-source software on a server...

Trump's Truth Social Bakes Section 230 Directly Into Its Terms, So Apparently Trump Now Likes Section 230

When Donald Trump first announced his plans to launch his own Twitter competitor, Truth Social, we noted that the terms of service on the site indicated that the company -- contrary to all the nonsense claims of being more "free speech&quot...

The Intersection Of Section 230, SLAPP Threats, The Streisand Effect And Sex Discrimination In Corporate Structures

Make sure you read the update at the end This is a story that appears like it was created just to get Techdirt coverage, given how many issues we cover it touches on. Here's how it starts: Tulane law professor Ann Lipton, an expert on...

Explainer: The Whole Spotify / Joe Rogan Thing Has Absolutely Nothing To Do With Section 230

I really wasn't going to write anything about the latest Spotify/Joe Rogan/Neil Young thing. We've posted older case studies about content moderation questions regarding Rogan and Spotify and we should have an upcoming guest post exploring...