| Force v. Facebook | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Court | US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit |
| Decided | 2019 |
| Docket nos. | No. 18-397 |
| Case history | |
| Appealed to | Petition for Certiorari before the US Supreme Court, denied |
| Related action | Petition for Certiorari denied toDryoff v. Ultimate Software Group, Inc. |
| Argument | Oral argument |
| Court membership | |
| Judges sitting | Katzmann, CJ., andDroney andSullivan, JJ. |
| Case opinions | |
| Decision by | Droney, joined by Sullivan |
| Concur/dissent | Katzmann |
| This article is part of a series about |
| Meta Platforms |
|---|
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| Products and services |
| People |
Executives and board members |
Notable employees |
Related organizations |
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Related |
Force v. Facebook, Inc., 934 F.3d 53 (2nd Cir. 2019) was a 2019 decision by theUS Second Circuit Appeals Court holding thatSection 230 bars civil terrorism claims againstsocial media companies and internet service providers, the first federal appellate court to do so.[1]
The court ruled that therecommender system remains as part of the role of the distributor of the content and not the publisher, since these automated tools were essentially neutral.[2][3] TheUS Supreme Court declined in 2020 to hear an appeal of the case.
JudgeRobert Katzman gave a 35-page dissenting opinion in theForce case, stating "Mounting evidence suggests that providers designed their algorithms to drive users toward content and people the users agreed with – and that they have done it too well, nudging susceptible souls ever further down dark paths."[4] Katzman's dissent was cited by Judge Clarence Thomas statement in respect of denying certiorari toMalwarebytes, Inc. v. Enigma Software Group USA, LLC.
TheElectronic Frontier Foundation filed anamicus curaie brief in the case, arguing for platform immunity.[5]
The court that year also declined to hearDyroff v. Ultimate Software Group Inc., a related case that citedForce.
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