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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…
FTC’s Mortgage Acts and Practices Advertising Rule May Not Help Consumers
August 15, 2011
FTC’s Mortgage Acts and Practices Advertising Rule May Not Help Consumers
By: Nicole Kardell
The FTC recently issued the Mortgage Acts and Practices – Advertising Final Rule. This rule is the FTC’s response to a congressional directive to address unfair or deceptive acts in the mortgage loan industry. Briefly, the MAP Rule (1) gives the FTC and state authorities the ability to seek civil penalties for deceptive mortgage advertising, (2) clarifies and provides examples of what constitutes deceptive mortgage…
Should FTC Sue Law Schools For Misrepresentation?
July 11, 2011
Should FTC Sue Law Schools For Misrepresentation?
By: Jeff Ifrah
On May 25, 2011, a class action was filed against the Thomas Jefferson School of Law (TJSL) in San Diego for intentionally misrepresenting employment data of recent alumni. The complaint states that in order to continue attracting students despite exorbitant law student debt and a depleted legal job market, TJSL has “adopted a practice of misrepresenting its post-graduation employment statistics.” These facts aren’t unique. According…
Internet Affiliates Fight Back in Court Against Illinois Retail Tax
June 30, 2011
Internet Affiliates Fight Back in Court Against Illinois Retail Tax
By: Ifrah Law
An organization that represents online affiliates filed suit in federal court this month challenging the constitutionality of a new Illinois law targeted at collecting sales tax from Web retailers. Internet retail giant Amazon.com has threatened to cut off its marketing affiliates in Illinois in an effort to avoid paying the tax, and other companies are threatening similar action. We have previously examined the potential effects…
Since When Did the FTC Start Regulating Cyber Security?
May 11, 2011
Since When Did the FTC Start Regulating Cyber Security?
By: Nicole Kardell
There’s no question that the Federal Trade Commission has the authority to prevent deceptive and unfair trade practices, such as false or misleading claims directed at consumers. Somehow, however, that authority has morphed into a much broader reach than one would have expected on the basis of common sense. We’ve written extensively about such jurisdictional overreaching by the FTC in the health food industry (see,…
FTC Files Suit Against Acai Marketing Sites Disguised as ‘News’
April 29, 2011
FTC Files Suit Against Acai Marketing Sites Disguised as ‘News’
By: Nicole Kardell
The FTC recently filed suit against ten operations with websites that market acai berry weight loss products. The FTC alleged that the companies’ websites – which look like news websites – deceived consumers who thought the sites were credible journalistic outlets as opposed to elaborate marketing schemes. According to the FTC, the sites contained titles such as “News 6 News Alerts,” “Health News Health Alerts,”…
