Social media sites are transforming not only the daily lives of consumers, but also how companies interact with consumers. Here at Morrison Foerster, across all of our practice groups, we are seeing complex, cutting-edge legal issues arising out of social media. As with the Internet boom during the mid-to-late 1990s, social media is generating new legal questions at a far faster pace than the law’s ability to provide answers to such questions. In an effort to stay on top of these emerging issues, and to keep our clients and friends informed of new developments, Morrison Foerster publishes this blog devoted to the law and business of social media.<h2>ABOUT MORRISON FOERSTER</h2>Morrison Foerster is a leading global law firm that transforms complexity into advantage for its clients. Our clients include some of the largest financial institutions, banks, consulting and accounting firms, and Fortune 100, technology, and life sciences companies. Highlighting the firm’s commitment to client service, leadership in market-changing deals and impact litigation, and values-based culture, Morrison Foerster has been repeatedly recognized as one of the top 10 firms on The American Lawyer’s A-List. Year after year, the firm receives significant recognition from Chambers and The Legal 500 across their various guides, including Global, USA, Asia‑Pacific, Europe, UK, Latin America, and FinTech Legal. Our lawyers passionately care about delivering legal excellence while living our values. Morrison Foerster has a long-standing commitment to creating a culture that respects and celebrates differences, while providing an inclusive environment. The firm has achieved Mansfield Certification Plus since 2018 as a result of successfully reaching at least 30 percent women, communities of color, and LGBTQ+ lawyer representation in a notable number of current leadership roles and committees. The firm also has a long history of commitment to the community and society through providing pro bono legal services, including litigating for civil rights and civil liberties, improving public education and fostering the wellbeing of children, advocating for veterans, promoting international human rights, enforcing the right to asylum, and safeguarding the environment.

Social

Search

sociallyaware-abajournalweb100-1

Aaron is the chair of the firm’s Technology Transactions Group and co-chair of the Interactive + Digital Media Group. He advises clients on a wide range of complex transactions involving intellectual property and technology, including structuring and negotiating strategic licensing, development, collaboration, procurement, and distribution deals.Aaron’s practice focuses on advising both established and emerging companies in a variety of data- and technology-intensive sectors, including software, SaaS, cloud-based technology, digital media (social media, AR/VR, gaming, streaming media, AdTech), AI, healthcare, consumer electronics, e-commerce, other online business models, and mobile applications. He also maintains an active practice counseling companies on branding and marketing, trademark licensing, and content-related transactions, as well as the intellectual property aspects of mergers, acquisitions, asset spin-offs, and private equity investments.He has represented clients such as Autodesk, Meta, OpenAI, Splunk, Konami, Kaiser Permanente, SoftBank, Visa, and Yahoo, among others.Aaron has been recognized by numerous publications for his work on market-defining technology transactions. He is currently ranked by Chambers USA for “Technology Transactions.”Aaron also serves as co-editor of Socially Aware, the firm’s award-winning newsletter and blog devoted to the law and business of social media, and regularly publishes on various IP and technology-related topics. Aaron is also a sought-after speaker on new and emerging areas of law, and is a frequent presenter and panelist at conferences and legal services programs. In addition to his active practice, Aaron regularly provides pro bono assistance to various nonprofit and charitable organizations such as Common Sense Media and the Starlight Children’s Foundation. He is a member of the board of directors of California Lawyers for the Arts.While in law school at the University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law, Aaron served as executive editor of the California Law Review and was elected to the Order of the Coif. Following law school, Aaron served as law clerk to the Honorable William H. Orrick and the Honorable Martin J. Jenkins, both United States District Judges for the Northern District of California.

rubin_aaron_blog_150x150.png

rubin_aaron_common_640x280.jpg

rubin_aaron_heroretina_2700x1160.jpg

rubin_aaron_mobileretina_750x1040.jpg

rubin_aaron_social_600x600.jpg

Partner

Aaron is the chair of our Technology Transactions Group. He advises clients on a wide range of complex transactions involving intellectual property and technology, including structuring and negotiating strategic licensing, development, collaboration, procurement, and distribution deals. Aaron’s practice focuses on advising both established and emerging companies in a variety of data– and technology–intensive sectors, including software, SaaS, cloud computing, AR/VR, AI, gaming, healthcare, consumer electronics, social media, e–commerce, other online business models, and mobile applications. He also maintains an active practice counseling companies on the intellectual property aspects of mergers, acquisitions, asset spin–offs, and private equity investments.

Aaron P. Rubin

Lawrence Gallick is of counsel in the firm’s Austin office and a member of the Technology Transactions Group.Lawrence focuses his practice on technology transactions and licensing matters. His diverse experience includes advising on SaaS agreements, cross-licensing agreements, research and collaboration agreements, development agreements, and distribution agreements. He counsels a broad range of companies across the software, hardware, life sciences, biotech and FinTech spaces, as well as other entities including universities.He advises clients in connection with general corporate matters including contract negotiations, and leasing and technology placement agreements.Lawrence also serves as co-editor of <a href="https://www.sociallyawareblog.com/" target="_blank">Socially Aware</a>, the firm’s award-winning newsletter and blog devoted to the law and business of social media, and regularly publishes on various IP and technology-related topics.Prior to joining the firm, Lawrence was counsel at another major law firm. Before earning his law degree, Lawrence was a web consultant, project manager, and web developer in Portland, Oregon, where he managed and consulted on projects using industry methodologies and performed custom development and integration of content management systems.Lawrence was named a Super Lawyers “Rising Star” in 2015 and 2018–2022, and is licensed in both California and New York. Lawrence earned his J.D. from the University at Buffalo School of Law, where he was the electronic systems editor for the Buffalo Law Review and awarded the ABA-BNA Award for Excellence in the Study of Intellectual Property Law.

gallick_lawrence_blog_150x150.png

gallick_lawrence_common_640x280.jpg

gallick_lawrence_heroretina_2700x1160.jpg

gallick_lawrence_mobileretina_750x1040.jpg

gallick_lawrence_social_600x600.jpg

Of Counsel

Lawrence Gallick

Anthony Ramirez is a partner in the Technology Transactions Group in the New York office of Morrison Foerster.Anthony advises clients on general commercial and transactional matters. He regularly advises companies on the IP aspects of their M&A transactions. His clients include technology, digital media and content for television and music, financial services, and communications companies with diverse intellectual property assets and issues.His practice focuses on the legal aspects of developing, licensing, and commercializing technology and intellectual property, as well as negotiating general commercial contracts, including outsourcing transactions, as well as content and data licenses. He regularly assists clients with legal issues relating to licensing and commercialization of digital media and content, digital content that is distributed over the Internet or streamed, mobile applications and social media, as well as the licensing of recorded music for distribution via digital platforms. Anthony is also experienced with issues relating to open-source software, software development, artificial intelligence and machine learning, cloud-based technology, and protection of proprietary information.Anthony has extensive experience working on matters involving disruptive technologies, such as blockchain. He has helped fintech clients with general intellectual property issues in connection with terms of service for online financial products and services.Anthony is an integral part of the outside pro bono legal team for nonprofit organizations based in New York, including advising clients on legal issues regarding entertainment, social media, privacy rights, and the negotiation of outsourcing and service agreements. Anthony received his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 2009. He received his B.S. from Cornell University in 2004.

ramirez_anthony_blog_150x150.png

ramirez_anthony_common_640x280.jpg

ramirez_anthony_heroretina_2700x1160.jpg

ramirez_anthony_mobileretina_750x1040.jpg

ramirez_anthony_social_600x600.jpg

Anthony Ramirez is a partner in the Technology Transactions Group in the New York office of Morrison Foerster. He advises clients on general commercial and transactional matters. His clients include technology, media, and communications companies with considerable intellectual property assets. His practice focuses on the legal aspects of licensing and commercializing technology and intellectual property, as well as negotiating general commercial contracts. He also regularly assists clients with legal issues relating to mobile applications and social media.

Anthony M. Ramirez

favicon.ico

favicon-16x16.png

favicon-32x32.png

apple-touch-icon.png

MoFo Favicons

Socially Aware is devoted to the law and business of social media, proactively addressing emerging issues and keeping our clients informed of new developments. We cover fields such as artificial intelligence, privacy and data security, Section 230, intellectual property, and much more.

Welcome to Socially Aware

240920-socially-aware-header.jpg

Welcome to Socially Aware

240920-socially-aware-header

Socially Aware is devoted to the law and business of social media, proactively addressing emerging issues and keeping our clients informed of new developments. We cover fields such as artificial intelligence, privacy and data security, Section 230, intellectual property, and much more.

News and Announcements

Blog - Terms of Use

Blog - Privacy Policy

Blog - Blog Disclaimer

Blog - Attorney Advertising

morrison-foerster-blog-logo.png

Provides a data-driven look at the Federal Circuit.

Federal Circuitry

Brings together legal insights and in-depth analyses on trends and complex issues shaping the global technology industry.

MoFo Tech

Mofo Tech

Equips our clients with the most up-to-date and relevant information on employment and labor law issues.

Employment Law Commentary

In-depth analysis of developments and trends impacting government contracting.

Government Contracts Insight

Government Contracts Insights

Provides insights and reports on the most current class actions lawsuits and product liability issues that affect consumer-facing companies.

Class Dismissed Blog

Class Dismissed

MoFo’s Socially Aware blog provides timely updates and analysis of the many complex and cutting-edge legal and business issues arising out of social media.

Socially Aware

  Linkedin

MoFo LinkedIN

Socially Aware Blog - RSS

Stay Connected

Never miss a post from Socially Aware. Enter your email below to stay up-to-date.

Subscribe

The Law and Business of Social Media

Morrison Foerster - Footer

We’ve reported before on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA), the 1996 statute that states, “[n]o provider or user of an interactive computer se

Blogs -  Home Button

Home

Blog - Topics

Web Scraping

Advertising

Antitrust

Arbitration

Artificial Intelligence

Asia

Autonomous Vehicles

Bankruptcy

Big Data

Blockchain

Class Actions

Cloud Computing

Compliance

Contracts

COPPA

Copyright

Crowdsourcing

Cyberbullying

Cybersecurity

Data Security

Defamation

Digital Content

Disappearing Content

Discovery

DMCA

E-Commerce

E-Discovery

E-Personation

Electronic Contracts

Employment Law

Endorsement Guides

Ephemeral Messaging

Ethics

European Union

Event

Fair Use

FDA Regulations

Financial Institutions

First Amendment

Fraud

Free Speech

GDPR

Hacking

Influencer Marketing

Infographic

Internet of Things

Investment Management Law

JOBS Act

Labor Law

Litigation

Live streaming

Marketing

Mobile

Online Contracts

Online Endorsements

Online Promotions

Online Reviews

Patent

Privacy

Product Liability

Protected Speech

Right of Publicity

Right To Be Forgotten

Section 230 Safe Harbor

Securities Law

Social Media Policy

Statistics

Status Updates

Stored Communications Act

Supreme Court

Terms of Use

Trademark

UK High Court

User-Generated Content

Wearable Computers

Topics

Blog - Editors

Editors

Blog - About

About

Blog - Subscribe

A Dirty Job: TheDirty.com Cases Show the Limits of CDA Section 230

A Dirty Job: TheDirty.com Cases Show the Limits of CDA Section 230 | Socially Aware

We’ve reported before on <a href="http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/47/230">Section 230</a> of the Communications Decency Act (CDA), the 1996 statute that states, “[n]o provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.”  Courts have interpreted Section 230 to immunize social media and other websites from liability for publishing content created by their users, provided the site owners are not “responsible in whole or in part, for the creation or development of” the offending content.Two recent federal cases involving the website TheDirty.com show that, 15 years after the landmark <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeran_v._America_Online,_Inc.">Zeran v. AOL </a>case interpreting Section 230 immunity broadly, courts still grapple with the statute and, arguably, get cases wrong, particularly when faced with unsavory content.TheDirty.com is an ad-supported website that features gossip, salacious content, news and sports stories.  The site, run by owner/editor Hooman Karamian, a/k/a Nik Richie, prompts users to “submit dirt” via a basic text form requesting “what’s happening” and “who, what, when, where, why,” and allows users to upload files. In response, users, referred to on the site as the “Dirty Army,” submit stories and photographs along with gossip about the people pictured. Richie then posts the pictures and information, often accompanied by his own comments. Two such racy posts, one detailing the sex habits of a Cincinnati Bengals cheerleader and the other about the supposed exploits of a “Church Girl,” led their subjects to bring defamation claims in federal court. Third-party users, not TheDirty.com, generated the content. Cases dismissed on Section 230 grounds, right?  Not quite.In <a href="http://www.citmedialaw.org/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2012-01-10-SummaryJudgmentDenied.pdf">Jones v. Dirty World Entertainment Recordings</a>, a case in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, plaintiff Sarah Jones, a cheerleader for the Cincinnati Bengals football team and also a high school teacher, sued TheDirty.com based on two user-submitted posts that included her picture and statements regarding her sex partners, as well as allegations that she had sexually transmitted diseases. Richie added a one-line comment— “why are all high school teachers freaks in the sack?”—and published the post. Jones requested that the posts be removed, but TheDirty.com refused. Richie also commented on the site directly addressing Jones, saying her concern about the post was misguided and that she was “d[igging] her own grave” by calling attention to it. Jones sought damages for defamation and invasion of privacy under state tort law, and TheDirty.com moved for judgment as a matter of law on CDA immunity grounds.The court held that TheDirty.com did not qualify for CDA immunity because it “specifically encouraged the development of what is offensive about the content” (citing the Tenth Circuit’s opinion in <a href="http://itlaw.wikia.com/wiki/FTC_v._Accusearch">Federal Trade Comm’n v. Accusearch</a>).  The court found that the TheDirty.com encouraged the development of, and therefore was responsible for, the offensive content based on the site’s name, the fact that the site encouraged the posting of “dirt,” Richie’s personal comments added to users’ posts, and his direct reference to the plaintiff’s request that the post be taken down. The court focused on Richie’s comments, including his statement “I love how the Dirty Army has war mentality. Why go after one ugly cheerleader when you can go after all the brown baggers.”The Jones court’s analysis diverges from prevailing CDA case law in a few respects. For example, regarding the issue of responding to a subject’s request that an allegedly defamatory post be taken down, the Ninth Circuit has held that deciding what to post and what to remove are “<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnes_v._Yahoo!,%20Inc.">traditional duties of a publisher</a>” for which the CDA provides immunity to website operators.  More critically, in adopting the “specifically encouraged the development of what is offensive” standard coined in Accusearch, the court in Jones reasoned that by requesting “dirt,” the site “encourage[d] material which is potentially defamatory or an invasion of the subject’s privacy,” and therefore lost CDA immunity.  That reasoning, though, could extend to any website functionality, such as free-form text boxes, that permits users to input potentially defamatory material. To hold that a website operator loses immunity based on the mere potential that users will post defamatory content effectively vitiates CDA immunity and parts ways with cases like the Ninth Circuit’s <a href="http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2008/04/02/0456916.pdf">Roommates.com</a> case, which held that a website’s provision of “neutral tools” cannot constitute development of content for purposes of the exception to CDA immunity. For these and other reasons, one leading Internet law <a href="http://blog.ericgoldman.org/archives/2012/01/thedirty_denied.htm">commentator</a> calls the case a “terrible ruling that needs to be fixed on appeal.” TheDirty.com’s appeal to the Sixth Circuit is pending.In a more recent case, S.C. v. Dirty World, LLC, the U.S. District Court for Western District of Missouri held that Richie and TheDirty.com did qualify for CDA Section 230 immunity on facts similar to those in Jones. The plaintiff in S.C. brought suit based on a user-generated post on TheDirty.com that showed her picture along with a description alleging that she had relations with the user’s boyfriend and attempted to do so with the user’s son. Richie published the post, adding a comment about the plaintiff’s appearance. The court explained that, because a third party authored the allegedly defamatory content, CDA immunity turned on whether TheDirty “developed” the content by having “materially contribute[d] to [its] alleged illegality.”  The court held that the defendants did not materially contribute to the post’s alleged illegality because the defendants never instructed or requested the third party to submit the post at issue, “did nothing to specifically induce it,” and did not add to or substantively alter the post before publishing it on the site.After having noted these facts, and how they differed from the facts in Jones, which the S.C. plaintiff had cited, the court explicitly “distanced itself from certain legal implications set forth in Jones.”  The S.C. court pointed out that a “broad” interpretation of CDA immunity is the accepted view.  It explained that CDA immunity does not, and should not, turn on the “name of the site in and of itself,” but instead focuses on the content that is actually defamatory or otherwise gives rise to legal liability.  The court noted, for example, that the site itself has a variety of content, much of it not defamatory or capable of being defamatory (e.g., sports stories and other news).Given that some may consider TheDirty.com’s gossip content and mission extreme, cases like S.C. likely provide peace of mind to operators of more conventional social media sites.  Still, should Jones survive appeal, it could lead to forum shopping in cases where plaintiffs expect to face CDA immunity defenses, because the “specifically encouraged” standard could, as in Jones, lead to a loss of immunity. We’ll keep you posted on the appeal.