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Devin Nunes Faces an Uphill Battle in His Lawsuit Against Twitter (nbcnews.com)
Devin Nunes, R-Calif., escalated the feud between conservatives and Twitter earlier this week with a lawsuit accusing the company of defamation and negligence -- two different allegations, one of which poses a more serious question for the social media platform and technology companies in general. Nunes is claiming that Twitter negligently violated its terms of service when it allowed people onto its online "premises" to say false or disparaging things about him. He is seeking $250 million in damages due to "pain, insult, embarrassment, humiliation, emotional distress and mental suffering, and injury to [Nunes'] personal and professional reputations" brought on by what Twitter users said about him.
From a report: Defamation is an interesting legal matter to discuss, at least in theory, but suing for defamation is seldom profitable in reality. Negligence may not sound as exciting as defamation, but this theory of liability quietly drives most successful civil litigation. Relatively easy to prove, it generally requires that the defendant show conduct that came up short of what can be expected, and that this shortcoming caused the plaintiff's damages. [...] The primary reason that technology companies are not sued into oblivion is the existence of the Communications Decency Act, or CDA, and in particular Section 230, which states that providers of an interactive computer service shall not be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider. Ordinarily, a lawsuit like this is properly filed against the Twitter user or account (like "Devin Nunes' Mom") and not Twitter itself.
Section 230 and the CDA have become the targets of growing backlash against the idea that technology companies should not be held responsible for what is published on their platforms. Technology companies have voluntarily taken steps to moderate some content, such as extremism, conspiracy theories and fake news, but most personal insults and parodies are still allowed to flourish. Section 230, however, isn't necessarily bulletproof. At least one federal court has stressed that the statute does not "create a lawless no-man's-land on the internet." That provides some basis for Nunes' claim that Twitter has been negligent in keeping its platform from being used to spread damaging statements about him. But a negligence claim against Twitter may still be precluded by the CDA. The test is whether the cause of action requires the court to treat Twitter as the publisher or speaker of content provided by another. In the meantime, one of the Twitter parody accounts that is mocking Nunes -- Devin Nunes' Cow (@DevinCow) -- has gained a lot of attention, with its followers count jumping from about 1200 followers last week to more than 615,000 followers -- and in doing so, surpassed the number of followers Devin Nunes has (about 399k).
Section 230 and the CDA have become the targets of growing backlash against the idea that technology companies should not be held responsible for what is published on their platforms. Technology companies have voluntarily taken steps to moderate some content, such as extremism, conspiracy theories and fake news, but most personal insults and parodies are still allowed to flourish. Section 230, however, isn't necessarily bulletproof. At least one federal court has stressed that the statute does not "create a lawless no-man's-land on the internet." That provides some basis for Nunes' claim that Twitter has been negligent in keeping its platform from being used to spread damaging statements about him. But a negligence claim against Twitter may still be precluded by the CDA. The test is whether the cause of action requires the court to treat Twitter as the publisher or speaker of content provided by another. In the meantime, one of the Twitter parody accounts that is mocking Nunes -- Devin Nunes' Cow (@DevinCow) -- has gained a lot of attention, with its followers count jumping from about 1200 followers last week to more than 615,000 followers -- and in doing so, surpassed the number of followers Devin Nunes has (about 399k).
Dude has a pretty high opinion of himself, been hanging around Trump too long.
If he really thinks anyone could further inure his personal and professional reputation, he's delusional.
Joe Rogan interview with Dorsy and Vijaya pretty much confirmed all the conspiracy theories. Go watch it, or just watch clips/highlights if you are still skeptical.
Our society cannot function when political views are actively suppressed by private entities with clear agenda. Social media has to be regulated as common carriers or we will not have any free speech left.
I was driving into work this morning and heard Devin Nunes' Cow referenced on a popular SiriusXM rock radio station!
It never fails to see a Republican throw out all of their "supposed beliefs" to get back at someone because their little ego's are hurt.
Just like how the republicans are all for the 2nd until they see black folks with guns... but that is all good.
"Social media has to be regulated as common carriers or we will not have any free speech left."
Seeing as breaking up monopolies is not something the modern GOP has ever had any interest in, best of luck with that.
Yeah, I seriously doubt that'll do anything. Searching "Obama parody" brought up dozens of accounts. Feel free to create the first "Obama's cow" one. Given Twitter still hasn't booted off the swastika waving self-proclaimed Nazis that are happy to use its platform I seriously doubt they're going to throw someone out for creating a parody account of a Democratic politician.
Pretty much the only account name banned right now is Elon Musk, you'll have your account suspended immediately if you put Elon Musk in the name or in any way make it look like Elon Musk's account to Twitter's filters.
The reason is fairly reasonable: there's been a bunch of cryptocurrency scams where fake Musks have responded to Elon Musk (making it look like they're Musk continuing the thread) with some scam about giving everyone X bitcoins if they send him (wallet number included) 0.01X bitcoins. Given they're focussing on Musk for this (I'm guessing nobody would believe it if they targeted Paul Krugman), the ban isn't entirely unreasonable.
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
...and still my impression of him is that his head is planted firmly up his ass. I think that impression comes from hearing him speak. Could it be that he really is a fucking moron and that Twitter just exposed him for what he really is?
"I'm so moist I'm sticking to the leather." -Kermit the Frog on The Late Late Show
Yahoo, twitter and FB et al haven't silenced you nutjobs, Alex is still 100% free to speak, just not allowed to make someone else print his bollocks. The only ones trying to suppress political speech is nunes here (he doesn't want people talking smack about this politiician, which is political speech) and trump (he keeps bleating on about how CNN et al should be investigated and libel laws beefed up to silence "the fake news media").
Joe Rogan interview with Dorsy and Vijaya pretty much confirmed all the conspiracy theories. Go watch it, or just watch clips/highlights if you are still skeptical.
Our society cannot function when political views are actively suppressed by private entities with clear agenda. Social media has to be regulated as common carriers or we will not have any free speech left.
So, we are go for a 24/7 hardcore pornography channel on basic cable.
That's different, is it? "Sex is evil" has been a foundational conservative position for decades, and one enshrined in the law and in corporate policy to avoid triggering conservatives. If you're going to go around crying that your Klan rallies aren't getting the coverage you want, you need to be ready to let sexual content be mainstream if you expect us to put up with it. Otherwise, you can be as happy with Klantube as us pervs are with Porntube.
Makes you think when the people in his district thought he was better than the other option(s)...
If I own a bar, and a patron of that bar says something disparaging about someone else, am I liable? Am I responsible for going to around to everyone who was in the bar that day and correcting the disparager? Come on.
Downmodding is the refuge of the weak. Don't downmod, make a better argument!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
No, this particular kind of lawsuit wasn't predicted by Popper circa 1945, but it's a great example of how it works in action.
I actually think Trump's so-called free-speech executive order is a slightly more sophisticated attack on tolerance. The real idea is to make is easier for intolerant people to attack tolerance. NOT to suggest that #PresidentTweety possesses the sophistication. The executive order was probably dictated over Trump's iPhone by Steve Bannon, that poster child of intolerance.
Next amusing thought of the day: Steve King is actively campaigning for Pence's job in 2020.
By the way, there are a number of cow-related Twitter accounts you might want to follow. https://twitter.com/search?q=%... is obvious, but if you search on Twitter for "DevinNunes" you'll see an entire herd of them.
Jesus H. Mother Fucking Christ, how brain-dead do you have to be to think that "progressives" are "tolerant".
Saying, "No, you don't deserve FWEEEEE STUFFFZZ!!!" isn't racist, bigoted, or intolerant.
The fact that "progressives" are so thin-skinned while being so damn easy to mock over their dreams of authoritarian, statist, forced wealth redistribution is obvious to anyone not drowning in the "progressive" Kool-aide.
this is part of the broader "left wing media bias" narrative that the right wing has worked hard to establish.
For anyone who remembers what came out about MSNBC and Bernie after 2016, or pays attention to the coverage of him now vs the establishment candidates like Beto, Biden & Harris, or remembers when the media closed ranks to promote the Iraq War or the 2008 Bank Bailout you know the media's bias is hard right when it counts: economics.
Hell, the media was center-right on Gay Marriage until around 2014 or so. Go watch them grill Bernie on Medicare for All while giving Biden a pass on his attacks on Social Security. All this before Sinclair media bought out every local TV station.
And we shouldn't be surprised about the media's biases when it comes to the economy or the stuff that really matters. Look at who owns them. Always, always, always follow the money.
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
It's hilarious how those on the "right" are constantly going on about "snowflakes" and "safe spaces" when their representatives like Trump and his minions like Nunes are the biggest collection of whiny, thin-skinned tantrumming snowflakes around.
Tim Pool (Poole?) made the entire thing an absolute nightmare for them. Every single question he posed to them resulted in hemming, hawing, vague bullshit, and utter embarrassment.
I expected Jack to be woefully unprepared to handle anything. The top boss never has to get down to brass tacks. But the Vijaya clown's entire job is to handle that kind of situation and she was completely unprepared to do anything but expose Twitter and its leadership for what it is.
It's well known that Twitter routinely shadowbans prominent conservatives, [...], but there's never been any real proof
I find this construction extremely amusing.
"We all know this must be true! All we gotta do is find a shred of evidence!"
Nunes is from a family that primarily made it's money by ranching. And then real estate.
Part of Nunes campaign's tactics were to refer to that ranching history, in an attempt to make him more "down home" and "regular working-class guy".
The cows were shipped to Iowa many years ago. Nunes has about as much connection to living, breathing cattle as Theresa May does.
A few moments on google should be enough to depose yourself of that idea, this
Beto's been overwhelmingly right win in his votes. He's a "New" Democrat, aka a Clinton Democrat. Just like Biden he "reaches across the isle", which is to say he votes with the GOP 80% of the time.
If that's what you want find. But please do go to the polls thinking your voting for a lefty or even a centrist. Beto is very much right wing, and it's only the crazy shifts in the Overton window that make him appear to be anything else. If you want a left wing candidate your choices are Bernie or Warren.
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
He better not turn on his TV, he'll find the late-night shows are all having a good laugh about this too...suing Twitter in this way makes about as much sense as suing his TV manufacturer for 'providing' similar commentary.
He is from one of the last Republican strongholds in CA.
He won in 2014 by 40 points, but only won by about 5 points in 2016.
I don't always use unix-like operating systems; but when I do, I prefer FreeBSD.
Joe Rogan interview with Dorsy and Vijaya pretty much confirmed all the conspiracy theories. Go watch it, or just watch clips/highlights if you are still skeptical.
Our society cannot function when political views are actively suppressed by private entities with clear agenda. Social media has to be regulated as common carriers or we will not have any free speech left.
Funny how that's modded flamebait. Only to those invested in censoring, maybe.
Furthermore, the Project Veritas videos of undercover interviews with Twitter employees was also very revealing. I don't need to trust O'Keefe when the candid video says it all.
You dumb sonofabitch, there is an account called, @ObamasPetCow. It has existed since July of 2015. It has not been banned.
You could have at least checked before making an ass of yourself.
You are welcome on my lawn.