Panelist, "Under Fire: The Front Lines of Recent Section 230 Battles," 2017 Legal Frontiers in Digital Media, Media Law Resource Center, Mountain View, Calif.

During the past year or so, a number of court decisions have chipped away at the protection of Section 230. Recently, courts have appeared receptive to claims that fall outside the usual ambit of publishing torts, where, e.g., a duty to warn was alleged (Doe v. Internet Brands), the FTC has targeted online advertising networks (FTC v. LeadClick), or where an online marketplace site earns a commission on an allegedly unlawful transaction by third parties (Airbnb v. San Francisco).

California's Supreme Court will soon consider whether platforms can be forced to remove content based on a third-party default judgment (Hassell v. Bird); in the lower courts, California's prosecution of Backpage.com executives continues (State v. Ferrer) while IMDb.com challenges a state law that—among other troubling provisions—could force it to edit user content (IMDb.com v. Becerra).

This panel reviewed the current landscape of Section 230 litigation, and highlighted areas of concern for the coming years.