Revenge of the Exes: The Importance of Overturning Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act
(Source) Imagine having someone show up unannounced at your home and work demanding sex from you. Now imagine it happening over 1,400 times. For Matthew Herrick, no imagination is necessary—he lived it. Over the course of a year, an ex-boyfriend used the dating app Grindr to impersonate Herrick and advertise sexual meetups, post crude photos, and share pinpointed locations allowing hundreds of different men to harass Herrick and demand sex from him at his home and work. When Herrick refused, many of the men threatened violence. Herrick filed multiple complaints with Grindr, but it did little to take down the fake profiles or prevent Herrick’s ex-boyfriend from using its service. Fearing his life, Herrick filed a lawsuit against the app. In Herrick v. Grindr, LLC, Herrick alleged, among other things, that Grindr was negligent and should be held accountable for ignoring Herrick’s complaints and allowing its defective platform to be used in a way that placed Herrick in danger. However, Grindr claimed that it had immunity under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (“Section 230”), specifically the “Good Samaritan” subsection (47 U.S.C. § 230(c)). The Good Samaritan clause deems that “interactive computer services” (“ICS”) cannot be treated as [read more]