Ninth Circuit Panel Goes Out of Its Way to Question Section 230–DOE vs. Meta

# Summary A Ninth Circuit panel ruled that Section 230 protects Meta from liability in a lawsuit brought by Rohingya genocide victims, despite the lower court having dismissed the case solely on statute of limitations grounds without mentioning Section 230. The panel proactively sought supplemental briefing on Section 230 and applied it de novo, an unusual move that legal analyst Jack Balkin characterizes as judicial activism, since the court could have simply affirmed the lower court's dismissal or remanded for further consideration of other issues.