9th Circuit Rules in Twitter's Favor in Sex-Trafficking Case

Child sex-trafficking victims sued the platform in January 2021, claiming Twitter knowingly disseminated videos of child sex abuse material (CSAM) of them and profited from sex-trafficking activity, arguing Twitter can’t claim immunity under Communications Decency Act Section 230. The victims, John Doe #1 and John Doe #2, claimed they were coerced into sexual activity that was recorded and surfaced on the platform. Classmates notified them of the material when they were 16 years old, three years after the alleged incidents, according to filings.

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California allowed one of their claims to proceed alleging Twitter benefited from the sex trafficking. However, the district court ruled the plaintiffs failed to state a claim for direct sex-trafficking liability under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. The 9th Circuit affirmed the district court's decision on count 1. It said because the plaintiffs didn’t allege that Twitter provided, obtained or maintained a person with direct liability, the district court “correctly concluded that Twitter’s alleged conduct relates only to CSAM depicting Plaintiffs, not to their persons (as required to implicate a direct violation of the TVPRA).”

The 9th Circuit also upheld the district court’s ruling on count 4, involving the distribution of child pornography. The district court “correctly ruled that section 230 precluded Plaintiffs from stating a viable claim for possession and distribution of child pornography under 18 U.S.C. §§ 2252A and 2255,” the 9th Circuit said. The appeals court noted limitations on Section 230 immunity extend only to criminal prosecution, not civil action based on criminal statute.

The district court allowed claims on count 2 to proceed, denying Twitter’s motion to dismiss. The plaintiffs argued in count 2 that Twitter is liable under the TVPRA for “benefitting from third-party trafficking activities that its platform allegedly facilitated.” The legal standard applicable to count 2 was decided in a similar case, Jane Does 1-6 v. Reddit (see 2210260073), the 9th Circuit said, reversing the district court’s decision on count 2. The 9th Circuit ruled in Reddit that the victims failed to plead that the website “knowingly benefited” from facilitating sex trafficking. The 9th Circuit remanded the decision on count 2 “for further proceedings to be conducted in a manner consistent” with the court’s Reddit decision.

Twitter knowingly "possessed and broadly distributed" CSAM, resulting in the material of two 13-year-old boys being viewed and shared hundreds of thousands of times on the platform, the victims' legal team said in a statement. The legal team included the National Center on Sexual Exploitation Law Center, the Haba Law Firm and The Matiasic Firm. Congress never intended to give tech companies immunity for knowingly violating laws protecting victims of child porn and sex trafficking, they said. The 9th Circuit decision is the first time a federal appellate court has ruled that Section 230 "gives civil immunity to technology companies for CSAM," they said. "The decision is a setback, but not a final outcome. We will continue to pursue justice for our clients who have been harmed by Twitter’s irresponsible conduct." Twitter’s press office responded with a message containing a poop emoji, an auto-reply implemented after Elon Musk took over the company.