Professor Challenges Social Media Law with Lawsuit Against Meta
- A professor has filed a lawsuit against Meta to challenge the powers granted to social media platforms under Section 230.
- The lawsuit aims to use a little-known clause in the act to level the playing field between users and social media platforms.
- This legal action could have significant implications for the regulation of online content and user rights.
A new lawsuit filed by Ethan Zuckerman, a public policy professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, challenges Meta's authority over user content on its platforms, citing Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. This law traditionally protects social media companies from liability for user-generated content, but Zuckerman argues it should also empower users to control their online experiences. The lawsuit stems from the case of Louis Barclay, who developed a browser extension called Unfollow Everything 2.0, allowing Facebook users to unfollow all accounts and regain control over their feeds. Barclay's software, created in 2020 to help him limit his Facebook usage, faced legal action from Meta, which claimed it violated their terms of service by disrupting the platform's intended operation. Although Barclay removed the extension following a cease-and-desist letter, he criticized Meta's actions as anti-consumer, urging lawmakers to reconsider how platforms restrict user choice through their terms of service. Zuckerman's lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, references a specific clause in Section 230 that permits platforms to restrict access to obscene or excessively violent content. He contends that this clause could also support user autonomy in managing their content preferences. In response, Meta has dismissed the lawsuit as baseless, arguing it pertains to a hypothetical extension that has not been developed. Zuckerman aims to challenge the power dynamics established by Section 230, advocating for greater consumer control over social media feeds and pushing back against the influence of major tech companies like Meta.