Platform Content Liability Likely to Face Ongoing Fights, Lawyers Say

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling for Google and its YouTube subsidiary in Prager University's lawsuit (see 2002260046) leaves open the broader issue of how courts will treat online platforms as speakers, Wiley lawyers Megan Brown, Boyd Garriott and Jeremy Broggi blogged Wednesday for the Washington Legal Foundation. The Supreme Court's Manhattan Community Access v. Halleck decision left the door open to the court finding sufficient state action in future First Amendment cases, they said. With doctrine unsettled, some platforms are focusing on self-regulation, they said. They said the Communications Decency Act's Section 230 immunity could go away in the face of bipartisan criticism and DOJ saying it's looking at ways of paring it back.