CDT Joins Amicus Brief Urging Rehearing in Anderson v. TikTok
On Monday, CDT joined an amicus brief led by Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), standing alongside the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), Public Knowledge, Reason Foundation, and Wikimedia Foundation in support of petition for rehearing en banc in Anderson v. TikTok. In the underlying case, the Third Circuit erroneously held that First Amendment protection for editorial choices around the display of third-party speech is mutually exclusive from Section 230(c)(1) immunity, citing the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Moody v. NetChoice.
The brief argues that the Circuit’s decision is contrary to the text of Section 230, reasonable rulings of other circuits, and decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court. The amicus brief also argues that not protecting platforms’ editorial choices would render Section 230(c)(1) immunity virtually meaningless, allowing plaintiffs to make an end-run around the statute and undermining Congress’ policy goal of incentivizing internet intermediaries to facilitate third-party speech at scale.
Finally, the brief argues that the ruling, if left to stand, would ultimately harm users’ free expression rights by incentivizing platforms to censor third-party speech, threatening the open internet and the unique ability of anyone with an internet connection to communicate with others around the world cheaply, easily, and quickly.
