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Meta’s Bay State Blues: Mass. High Court Finds Another Crack in the Section 230 Shield
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April 20, 2026
Meta’s Bay State Blues: Mass. High Court Finds Another Crack in the Section 230 Shield
By: Robert Ward
Meta’s Bay State Blues: Mass. High Court Finds Another Crack in the Section 230 Shield Mere weeks after juries in California and New Mexico returned multi-million-dollar verdicts against Meta Platforms, Inc., the social media company suffered another defeat. On April 10, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) rejected the social media company’s attempt to raise Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act as a shield against the Massachusetts Attorney General’s lawsuit alleging that the company, along with Instagram LLC, designed the Instagram platform to foster compulsive use among children. Like the plaintiff in the California case, the Attorney General alleges that Meta implemented a “suite of design features that exploit [young] users’ neurological vulnerability to social media addiction,” including “infinite…
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Thinking about adding an AI Chatbot? Some key considerations.
February 17, 2026
Thinking about adding an AI Chatbot? Some key considerations.
By: Steven Hess
Many companies are thinking about how to deploy new AI systems to automate routine work and to improve their product. For many businesses, adding an AI chatbot is a valuable way to enhance the customer experience by automating routine conversations,[1] and by alerting customers to new deals and offerings that are relevant to them.[2] Coupled with the rising ubiquity of AI chatbots in modern life,[3]…
Is Scrolling the New Smoking?
January 21, 2026
Is Scrolling the New Smoking?
By: Lauren Scribner
In the final weeks of 2025, New York passed a law requiring social media platforms with “certain predatory features” to display warning labels about “the dangerous impact” those features pose to the mental health of users under the age of eighteen.[1] These so-called “predatory features” include continuous and infinite scrolling, displaying addictive feeds, and automatically playing video content.[2] Warning labels will be displayed upon the…
Federal Court Dismisses Illegal Lottery Claims Against Omaze, Emphasizing Adequacy of Fundraiser’s Alternative Means of Sweepstakes Entry
February 25, 2022
Federal Court Dismisses Illegal Lottery Claims Against Omaze, Emphasizing Adequacy of Fundraiser’s Alternative Means of Sweepstakes Entry
By: Jacob Grubman
As covered in this blog, in most states, companies that offer sweepstakes entries with certain purchases must also allow free entry (often called “alternative means of entry” or “AMOE”). This requirement stems from the three elements that generally make up regulated gambling: (1) consideration, (2) prize, and (3) chance. Random-chance giveaways inherently meet the latter two factors. To avoid running afoul of the gambling laws,…
New Federal Court Decision Counsels “Clear and Conspicuous” Advertisement of Alternative Means of Sweepstakes Entry – Coinbase Suit Proceeds
January 12, 2022
New Federal Court Decision Counsels “Clear and Conspicuous” Advertisement of Alternative Means of Sweepstakes Entry – Coinbase Suit Proceeds
By: Jacob Grubman
Most states require that companies offering sweepstakes allow entry without requiring purchase or other consideration. This alternate means of entry, or “AMOE,” avoids liability under gambling and lottery statutes by removing the “consideration” element in state gambling and lottery laws. A recent decision in California federal court has shed new light on how sweepstakes operators must publicize these alternative means of entry (“AMOE”), underscoring…
Law Firms Champing at the Bit(coin)
December 10, 2021
Law Firms Champing at the Bit(coin)
By: James Trusty
Cryptocurrencies, such as the industry leaders Bitcoin and Ethereum, appear to be on the slow march towards popular acceptance as legitimate means of payment. As evidence of both legitimacy and the sluggishness of acceptance, several Bar Associations have weighed in with opinions on the ability of lawyers to accept cryptocurrencies as payment for legal services. The most recent moment of a Bar Association dipping a…
FTC Tells Advertisers – Fake Reviews and Endorsements Are Going to Cost You
October 14, 2021
FTC Tells Advertisers – Fake Reviews and Endorsements Are Going to Cost You
By: Michelle Cohen
Does your company or its affiliate advertisers use celebrities or influencers to market your services? Do you use customer reviews to promote your offerings? The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”), energized by new Chairperson Lina Khan, just sent out notices to over 700 companies – including many household names (https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/attachments/penalty-offenses-concerning-endorsements/list-recipients-endorsement-notice.pdf) warning them about using fake reviews and other misleading endorsements in advertising their products and services….
Supreme Court rules that FTC cannot seek disgorgement under Section 13(b) of the FTC Act
July 12, 2021
Supreme Court rules that FTC cannot seek disgorgement under Section 13(b) of the FTC Act
By: Ifrah Law
Last October, we reported on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision in Federal Trade Commission v. AbbVie, Inc., in which the appeals court overturned a trial court’s decision ordering $448 million in disgorgement pursuant to Section 13(b) of the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) Act against a group of businesses accused of trying to monopolize and restrain trade over a patented drug called AndroGel. At…
