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1 Supreme Court Rulings Keep Liability Shield In Place For Web Platforms
By declining to rule on “Gonzalez v. Google,” the Supreme Court yesterday left the liability protections of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act in place. The law protects platforms like Google, Facebook, and Twitter from being held liable for what their users post on their platforms. The court sent the case back to a lower court to reconsider while keeping another ruling from the Supreme Court yesterday in mind. The second case, Twitter v. Taamneh, involved the family of an American terrorist attack victim trying to hold Twitter accountable for allegedly aiding and abetting the attack because it didn’t take enough action to remove terrorist content from the platform. Justices ruled that the claim wasn’t justified, with Justice Clarence Thomas writing in the decision that “plaintiffs have failed to allege that defendants intentionally provided any substantial aid” to the attack.
2 Leaders Hopeful For Weekend Debt Deal
President Joe Biden was in Japan yesterday, meeting with other world leaders on the first full day of the Group of Seven summit. While the focus was on the conflict in Ukraine, reporters still tried to get comments from Biden about the debt ceiling crisis in the U.S. The parties involved in the negotiations seem positive they can come to an agreement, but it’s not a guarantee. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said yesterday he could “see a path” to reach a deal to avoid a default, but they weren’t there yet. A group of 11 senators called a press conference yesterday to announce an effort to convince Biden to use the 14th Amendment to raise the limit without the approval of Congress. It’s never been done, and there’s disagreement over whether or not a President can use the amendment to do it. In the middle of the debt ceiling crisis, bipartisan legislation from Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger and Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick would block pay for members of Congress if the ceiling isn’t lifted in time and the U.S. defaults on its debts.
3 Disney Pulling Out Of Billion-Dollar Florida Investment
The Walt Disney Co. announced yesterday that it’s pulling out of a $1 billion investment in Florida due to “changing business conditions.” Josh D’Amaro, chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, told employees in a memo that the company wouldn’t be building a new Disney campus in Lake Nona, which was set to employ around 2,000 Disney workers that would have been relocated from California to Florida. The move comes just a few weeks after Disney sued Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, alleging a “targeted campaign of government retaliation,” but also comes in the middle of Disney cutting over $5 billion in costs. In response, DeSantis’ office said that “Given the company’s financial straits, falling market cap and declining stock price, it is unsurprising that they would restructure their business operations and cancel unsuccessful ventures.”