The California Supreme Court Didn’t Ruin Section 230 (Today)–Hassell v. Bird

I previously described the case facts: “A lawyer was unhappy with a Yelp review about her. The lawyer sued the putative author (with dubious service of process), got a default ruling that the review was defamatory along with a removal injunction, and then delivered the injunction to Yelp and demanded removal. Yelp refused to remove the review.” In a shocking development, in 2016, the Court of Appeals upheld the injunction. Today, the California Supreme Court reversed that ruling, seemingly restoring the status quo. Yelp rightly claims it as a win. However, the long-term implications of this case aren’t entirely clear because the Supreme Court voted 3-1-3: three justices on a plurality opinion, 3 justices (in 2 opinions) in dissent, and a swing-vote concurrence by Justice Kruger. This split reflects partisan lines: the 3 plurality judges were all appointed by Republicans, while the dissenting judges (including Judge Stewart sitting by designation) were…

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