The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has a substantial interest in the resolution of NetChoice’s constitutional challenge to AB-2273, California’s social media law, because it “implicates the stability” of the internet economy and “core constitutional rights of participants in that economy,” said the Chamber’s amicus brief Wednesday (docket 23-2969) at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The brief supports NetChoice’s challenge and affirmance of the district court’s preliminary injunction blocking California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) from enforcing AB-2273 (see 2309190006).

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act restriction on artificial and prerecorded voice messages applies to any call, including calls sent via MMS, said the Electronic Privacy Information Center and the National Consumer Law Center in an amicus brief Wednesday (docket 23-3826) in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The brief supports plaintiff-appellant Jacob Howard’s appeal to reverse the district court’s dismissal of his TCPA complaint against the Republican National Committee (see 2402080021).

U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty for Western Louisiana in Monroe granted Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his co-plaintiffs, Children’s Health Defense and Connie Sampognaro, their motion for a preliminary injunction, barring officials from the White House and four federal agencies from coercing social media platforms to moderate their content, said his signed memorandum ruling Wednesday (docket 3:23-cv-00381).

Florida’s Senate Bill 7072 is a “compendium of First Amendment problems,” and Texas’ HB-20 social media law “interferes with Petitioners’ First Amendment rights,” said petitioners NetChoice and the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) in reply briefs Thursday before the U.S. Supreme Court.

California enacted AB-587, compelling social media companies to disclose their efforts to moderate constitutionally protected speech that the state disfavors, as part of a “concerted effort” to limit or eliminate that speech on social media platforms, said X’s opening brief Wednesday (docket 24-271) at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. X’s appeal seeks to reverse the district court’s denial of its injunction to block AB-587's enforcement (see 2401190038).

Social media companies defended their platforms Thursday against allegations in New York City’s Wednesday public nuisance lawsuit (docket 24ST-cv-03643) blaming Google, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok for rising mental health issues among schoolchildren. The lawsuit was filed in California Superior Court in Los Angeles.

TechFreedom opposes government efforts to control online speech, which is “precisely why” it opposes laws like California’s AB-2273 that mandate online age verification, said its 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals amicus brief Wednesday (23-2969). The brief supports NetChoice’s challenge to AB-2273 on constitutional grounds and affirmance of the district court’s injunction that bars California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) from enforcing the statute (see 2309180063).

The COVID-19 pandemic saw a rise in “totalitarian violations of constitutional rights” under the “guise” of public health, said Liberty Counsel’s U.S. Supreme Court amicus brief Tuesday in Murthy v. Missouri (docket 23-411). The nonprofit legal organization's brief supports the injunction barring White House officials and four federal agencies from coercing social media platforms to moderate their content.

T-Mobile’s transfer of two customers’ cellphone numbers to a third-party device via a SIM swap, without their permission or authorization, allowed a fraudster to unlawfully access their accounts and steal more than $50,000, said a Friday negligence complaint (docket 1:24-cv-00627) in U.S. District Court for Northern Georgia in Atlanta.

Plaintiff Unimax Communications asks that the U.S. District Court for Western Washington in Seattle deny T-Mobile’s Jan. 22 motion to dismiss its breach of contract lawsuit against the carrier (see 2401240026), said Unimax’s response to the motion Tuesday (docket 2:23-cv-01830).