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Word of God Fellowship, Inc., dba Daystar Television Network v. Vimeo, Inc., et al.

Paid petition · Appellate Division, Supreme Court of New York, First Judicial Department, No. 2021-00793 · judgment March 22, 2022

Certiorari denied · January 23, 2023
Pre-decision estimate: 2% cert probability

Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.

Questions presented

47 U.S.C. § 230(c)(2)(A) grants certain civil immunity to interactive computer service providers who, in good faith, remove “material that the provider or user considers to be obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, excessively violent, harassing, or otherwise objectionable.” State and federal courts nationwide are split on whether a provider’s right to remove “otherwise objectionable” material confers expansive immunity to censor material that the provider claims is “objectionable” only because of the speaker’s subjective, political viewpoint—not for its facially obscene, immoral, violent, or harassing content. The questions presented in this case are:

  1. Does Section 230 immunity extend to the removal of viewpoint-based speech on matters of public concern when the content of the speech is neither facially obscene, excessively violent, nor harassing?

  2. Does Section 230 further preempt state claims for breach of contract, thereby allowing providers to breach with impunity their self-imposed undertakings to host particular content?

Counsel of record

For petitioner
John Hill Cayce Jr.
Kelly Hart & Hallman LLP

For respondent
Michael Andrew Cheah
Vimeo, Inc.

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Proceedings

  1. Jan 23 2023
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Jan 04 2023
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/20/2023.
  3. Jan 04 2023
    Reply of petitioner Word of God Fellowship, Inc. d/b/a Daystar Television Networth filed. (Distributed)
    Main DocumentProof of ServiceCertificate of Word Count
  4. Dec 21 2022
    Brief of respondents Vimeo, Inc., et al. in opposition filed.
    Main DocumentCertificate of Word CountProof of Service
  5. Nov 03 2022
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including December 21, 2022.
  6. Nov 02 2022
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from November 21, 2022 to December 21, 2022, submitted to The Clerk.
    Main Document
  7. Oct 19 2022
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due November 21, 2022)
    PetitionAppendixCertificate of Word CountProof of Service