Social Links: Courtside Seats

Meta Successfully Asserts Section 230 Immunity

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld the dismissal of a case that sought to hold Facebook parent company Meta liable for the 2015 mass shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, SC. The plaintiffs alleged that Facebook’s algorithm promoted white supremacist content and suggested extremist groups to drive engagement, which radicalized the killer. The court held that the claims were fundamentally about Facebook’s role as a publisher, so Meta was entitled to immunity under Section 230. Affirming a lower court decision, Judge Barbara M. Keenan wrote, “[the plaintiff’s] state law tort claims suffer from a fatal flaw; those claims attack the manner in which Facebook’s algorithm sorts, arranges, and distributes third-party content.” She further wrote that the claims are barred under Section 230 “because they seek to hold Facebook liable as a publisher of that third-party content.” However, Judge Allison Rushing dissented in part, arguing that Facebook’s recommendations could be considered its own speech, making it potentially liable.

California Social Media Law Blocked

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has temporarily blocked the enforcement of SB 976, the Protecting Our Kids from Social Media Addiction Act, while an appeal is underway in a lawsuit filed by tech trade group NetChoice. SB 976, which became law in September 2024, bars online platforms from using personalized recommendation systems for minors unless they have parental consent. For now, this rule only applies when a platform has actual knowledge that a user is under 18. However, if the act survives legal challenges, platforms will be required to estimate users’ ages based on regulations set by the California Attorney General by 2027. Implementation of the act, originally set to take effect on January 1, was delayed one month by a district court order and the Ninth Circuit extended the delay until April 2025. This is one of many suits brought by NetChoice against states’ attempts to regulate social media, including in Utah, Arkansas, Ohio, Mississippi, and Texas. Most recently, NetChoice has set its sights on Maryland’s Age-Appropriate Design Code Act.

New York Proposes Making Social Media Algorithms Optional

The Empire State is proposing bold legislation to rein in social media algorithms. S4506, which is currently in committee, would make New York the first state to mandate that platforms let users opt out of algorithm-driven feeds entirely. The proposal also takes aim at those after-hours dopamine hits; platforms would be required to let users turn off algorithmic notifications and disable autoplay features between midnight and 6 a.m. The idea is to give people a little more control over their online lives (and maybe a few extra hours of sleep). State Sen. Andrew Gounardes sponsored the bill, which also sidesteps the technical headache of enforcing the age verification rules included in S7694A, which was signed into law in 2024. State Attorney General Letitia James would oversee enforcing the law and setting the rules, but don’t expect anything to happen overnight. Similar to S7694A, this latest proposal wouldn’t kick in until 180 days after James finalizes a regulatory framework. That process, if history is any guide, could drag on for months. It’s a safe bet that tech companies will fight this legislation aggressively. NetChoice lawyers are no doubt sharpening their pencils and shining their shoes at this very moment.