EFF: California Supreme Court Strengthens Section 230 Protections for Online Speech
California Supreme Court Strengthens Section 230 Protections for Online Speech Special thanks to legal intern Miranda Rutherford who was the lead author of this post. If someone sues you for a review you wrote on Yelp, can a court force Yelp to take down the review? This month, the California Supreme Court said “no” in the case Hassell v. Bird . This case concerned a dangerous misinterpretation of Section 230, the law that protects online platforms from liability for their users’ speech. We’re glad that the California Supreme Court corrected this misinterpretation and upheld Section 230’s protections for online speech. It all started with a bad review. Like many of us have, Ava Bird had a bad experience with a business—a law office headed by a lawyer, Dawn Hassell—and wrote a review on Yelp detailing her frustrations. Hassell wasn’t happy with the review and sued Bird for defamation. After Bird didn’t appear in court to defend the case, the trial judge entered a default judgment...