Posts Tagged: "The Communications Decency Act"

Third Circuit: Facebook Not Immune to Right of Publicity Claims Under IP Carve-Out of Section 230

On September 23, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit reversed in part a decision by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, ultimately holding that Karen Hepp’s complaint against Facebook was not barred by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996.In 2018, Hepp was informed by a coworker that a photo of her was being used online. The photo of Hepp was taken without her knowledge or consent and she never authorized the use of the image in any advertisements.

Hepp’s complaint cited two sets of posts online of the photo, which Hepp alleged under Pennsylvania law violated her right to publicity. The first post appeared on Facebook as an advertisement to a dating app. The advertisement encouraged Facebook users to use the app and used the image of Hepp to promote the dating service. The second post appeared on Reddit, where a user linked to a post on Imgur. The Reddit post was upvoted hundreds of times and incited indecent user commentary regarding the photo of Hepp.

Closing a Loophole to Prevent Online Sex Trafficking

The U.S. Senate is slated to vote on the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA), legislation that would help prevent online sex trafficking by holding accountable the websites that knowingly facilitate such trafficking. After overwhelmingly passing the House in late February, and with 67 co-sponsors already on the Senate version, the legislation is almost certain to head to President Trump’s desk. Despite significant support from Congress, the White House, and stakeholders including the Fraternal Order of Police, U.S. Institute Against Human Trafficking, UNICEF USA, and Teens Against Trafficking, SESTA has received considerable pushback from portions of the tech community who are concerned with the changes the legislation would make to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA)