On June 25, 2021, the Texas Supreme Court held that section 230 of the Communications Decency Act does not bar claims alleging Facebook engaged in affirmative acts in violation of a state statute. The decision was a disappointment for WLF, which filed an amicus brief in the case in support of Facebook. Section 230 generally protects anyone on the web from being held liable for the speech of a third party. WLF asked the Texas high court to apply section 230 as written in a case in which the lower courts effectively set the statute aside. Instead, the Texas high court held that section 230 bars only common law claims like negligence and products liability, not claims alleging a violation of human trafficking laws. WLF is grateful to Scott Keller of Lehotsky Keller for his pro bono assistance in the case.
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