Section 230 is a defense to liability, not a get-out-of-court-free card, and courts have no business letting tech giants skip straight to appeal every time a judge lets a case proceed. Thousands of families alleging that Meta and TikTok deliberately addicted kids deserve their day in court, not procedural stalling tactics dressed up as jurisdictional arguments. Forcing these companies to actually litigate is exactly how the legal system is supposed to work.
The Ninth Circuit spent two decades calling Section 230 protection immunity from suit, not just a liability shield, and gutting that distinction now exposes every online platform to costly, protracted litigation Congress explicitly wanted to prevent. Stripping Meta of the right to appeal before trial destroys the immunity entirely, since an immunity from suit that survives only after years of litigation is no immunity at all. Letting these failure-to-warn claims proceed unchecked chills free speech and smothers internet innovation.
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