Supreme Court Leaves Social Media Liability Shield Untouched
The Supreme Court crackdown on social media platforms’ liability shield for user content that many observers expected in a pair of recent high-profile cases never came.
Much to the relief of Silicon Valley, the Supreme Court sidestepped the issue in its much anticipated May 18 rulings in Twitter Inc. v. Taamneh and Gonzalez v. Google LLC. The decisions left in place the legal status quo regarding liability, at least for the time being.
Big Tech and its supporters had been deeply concerned that the court could eviscerate Section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act of 1996, which generally prevents internet platforms and internet service providers from being held liable for what users say on them. They say the legal provision, sometimes called “the 26 words that created the internet,” has fostered a climate online in which free speech has flourished….