Yet Another Court Says Victims Don't Need SESTA/FOSTA To Go After Backpage

Yet Another Court Says Victims Don't Need SESTA/FOSTA To Go After Backpage

6 years ago
Anonymous $gIi3-PxxKB

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20180404/11214139563/yet-another-court-says-victims-dont-need-sesta-fosta-to-go-after-backpage.shtml

We already pointed to a ruling in Massachusetts showing that victims of sex trafficking don't need SESTA/FOSTA to get around CDA 230 and go after Backpage when Backpage is an active participant, and now another court has found something similar. Found via Eric Goldman, a court in Florida has rejected a motion to dismiss by Backpage on CDA 230 grounds. The full order is here (and embedded below).

As with other cases (including the Massachusetts case) the real issue here is whether or not Backpage was just a service provider, or if it crossed the line into being a content provider itself, and did so in ways that broke the law. To be clear, the court here does seem... confused about CDA 230 and how other courts have ruled, and basically rejects plenty of existing caselaw and the nature of 230: