Amicus Brief in Doe v. MySpace
In Doe v. MySpace, Inc., the plaintiff created a profile on MySpace. MySpace’s terms of service state that it cannot verify the age and/or identity of its member and cautions members against providing personal contact information to other members; it also requires that members be at least fourteen years of age to join. Despite this, Plaintiff Doe, 13 at the time, lied and stated that she was 18 years of age. A 19-year-old MySpace.com member subsequently contacted the plaintiff and the two eventually met in person, at which point the 19-year-old sexually assaulted the plaintiff.
The plaintiff brought suit against MySpace for negligence, gross negligence, fraud, and negligent misrepresentation. MySpace, relying on Section 230, was granted a motion to dismiss by the district court. On appeal, the plaintiff is reiterating her claim that Section-230 immunity is not applicable to MySpace. Rather, Plaintiff asserts that her suit centered not on the dissemination of information by the 19-year-old, but instead, on MySpace’s failure to adopt certain security measures in spite of an alleged “duty” to do so.
In the brief, CDT and others argue that assigning any such duty would treat MySpace as the author or publisher of the content. This is disallowed under Section 230, so MySpace has no such duty.
