Tech

Trump sues Twitter and Facebook for banning him, claims “trillions” in damages

Enlarge / A mob of Trump supporters stormed and breached the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. Trump’s incitement of the mob led to his bans from major social networks. (credit: Getty Images | The Washington Post) Former President Donald Trump today sued Twitter, Facebook, Google subsidiary YouTube, and their CEOs, claiming that all three […]

Tech

Appeals court allows parents to sue Snap over 100 mph car crash

Enlarge (credit: Peter Dazeley / Getty Images) The Snapchat Speed Filter in action. (credit: 9th Circuit opinion) A California federal appeals court has denied legal immunity to Snap for the 2017 death of two teens and a 20-year-old when their car crashed into a tree at 113 miles per hour (180 km/h). Parents of two […]

Tech

Clarence Thomas blasts Section 230, wants “common-carrier” rules on Twitter

Enlarge / Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas arrives for the swearing-in of Justice Brett Kavanaugh in the East Room of the White House on October 8, 2018 in Washington, DC. (credit: Getty Images | Chip Somodevilla ) The US Supreme Court today vacated a 2019 appeals-court ruling that said then-President Trump violated the First Amendment […]

Tech

Twitter sues Texas AG to stop “retaliatory” content-moderation probe

Enlarge (credit: Thomas Trutschel / Getty Images) Twitter is suing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, alleging a probe Paxton launched into its business is an act of retaliation against the platform’s choice to ban the account of former US President Donald Trump. The suit (PDF) accuses Paxton of using his office to “intimidate, harass, and […]

Tech

Filing: Amazon warned Parler for months about “more than 100” violent threats

Enlarge / Amazon Web Services (AWS) logo displayed during the 4th edition of the Viva Technology show at Parc des Expositions Porte de Versailles on May 17, 2019, in Paris, France. (credit: Chesnot | Getty Images) Amazon on Tuesday brought receipts in its response to seemingly defunct social networking platform Parler’s lawsuit against it, detailing […]

Tech

Facebook and Twitter could be sued for “censorship” under proposed state law

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images | Peter Dazeley) Republican state lawmakers in North Dakota want Facebook and Twitter to face lawsuits from users who have been “censored.” A bill submitted by the six legislators last week is titled, “an Act to permit civil actions against social media sites for censoring speech.” It says that social media […]

Business

Twitter shares dive as lawmakers see Trump ban as evidence for stronger Big Tech regulation

Our mission to make business better is fueled by readers like you. To enjoy unlimited access to our journalism, subscribe today. Twitter’s share price fell by as much as 8% in pre-market trading Monday morning, following the company’s Friday decision to permanently suspend U.S. President Donald Trump’s account. Although the affected account (@realDonaldTrump) was the president’s […]

Tech

Ajit Pai abandons plan to help Trump punish Facebook and Twitter

Enlarge / Ajit Pai backs slowly away from President Trump. (credit: Aurich Lawson / Photo by Gage Skidmore) Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai said he is dropping his plan to help President Trump impose a crackdown on social-media platforms and offered mild criticism of Trump’s incitement of a mob that stormed the US Capitol […]

Business

Now is not the time to repeal Section 230, but it should be soon

President Trump, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and other GOP leaders have suddenly flipped positions on stimulus payments. Now they’re insisting that the (unrelated) repeal of obsolete protections for social media companies is a sudden condition for voting to boost assistance to Americans in distress over the coronavirus pandemic. This is, of course, a canard […]