Douglas E. Mirell

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Justices Should Nix Section 230 Immunity For Tech

October 26, 2023Article
Law360

Doug Mirell, litigation partner, wrote an article, entitled "Justices Should Nix Section 230 Immunity For Tech," that was published by Law360.

Excerpts:

Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court passed up an opportunity to challenge the scope of the federal law that confers immunity upon website platforms hosting third-party content.

However, on Sept. 29, the court agreed to decide two new cases that again present an opening to curtail the broad immunity enjoyed by platforms under Section 230. In Moody v. NetChoice, LLC and NetChoice, LLC v. Paxton, the justices will confront laws enacted by Florida and Texas that prohibit social media companies from removing content based upon a user's viewpoint.

Assuming the Supreme Court sides with the social media platforms in the pending Moody and Paxton cases, it would benefit Congress to revisit Section 230 by recognizing the hypocrisy inherent in allowing these platforms to be treated as immune pipelines when they post user-generated content, but as publishers only when they engage in the quintessentially editorial function of removing, editing or arranging that very same content.

Read the full article here.

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