EFF to Council of Europe: Cross Border Police Surveillance Treaty Must Have Ironclad Safeguards to Protect Individual Rights and Users’ Data
This is the third post in a series about recommendations EFF, EDRi, CIPPIC, Derechos Digitales, TEDIC, Karisma Foundation, and other civil society organizations have submitted to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), which is currently reviewing the Protocol, to amend the text before its final approval...
EFF to 9th Circuit (Again): App Stores Shouldn’t Be Liable for Processing Payments for User Content
EFF filed an amicus brief for the second time in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, arguing that allowing cases against the Apple, Google, and Facebook app stores to proceed could lead to greater censorship of users’ online speech.Our brief argues that the app stores...
Another Court Rules Copyright Can’t Stop People From Reading and Speaking the Law
Federal Judge Upholds State Department Rule Requiring Visa Applicants to Disclose Social Media Information
Since 2019, people applying for a visa to the United States have had to register their social media accounts with the U.S. government as part of the application process. Two U.S.-based documentary film organizations that regularly collaborate with non-U.S. filmmakers and other international partners sued the State Department shortly...
Tornado Cash Civil Decision Limits the Reach of the Treasury Department’s Actions while Skirting a Full First Amendment Analysis
A District Court recently considered a civil claim that the Treasury Department overstepped when it listed Tornado Cash on the U.S. sanctions list. This claim took some steps, if not enough, to address EFF’s concerns about coders rights. In the case, Van Loon v Department of the Treasury, EFF...
Federal Judge Upholds Arizonans’ Right to Record the Police
The Arizona legislature last year passed a law (H.B. 2319 codified at A.R.S. § 13-3732) banning the video recording of police activity within eight feet of officers, making doing so a class 3 misdemeanor (which would allow for up to 30 days in jail). The law...
EFF to 9th Circuit: App Stores Shouldn’t Be Liable for Processing Payments for User Content
EFF filed a brief this week in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit arguing that app stores should not be liable for user speech just because they recommend that speech or process payments for those users. Those stores should be protected by Section 230, a...
Court Rejects Efforts to Identify Anonymous Webhost
Note: The post was co-authored by EFF legal intern Janelle RobinsIn a victory for online expression, a U.S. District Court judge has quashed a subpoena aimed at revealing the identity of an anonymous person who simply hosted a website.The background facts tell a too-familiar tale in the age of social...
DC Circuit FOSTA Ruling Lets a Bad Law Stay on the Books, But Offers Meaningful Protection for Some Sex Work Forums and Sex Workers Using Online Services
The Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on July 7 affirmed the dismissal of Woodhull Freedom Foundation v. US, the constitutional challenge to FOSTA. That’s certainly disappointing: this bad law will now stay on the books.But the good news is that FOSTA stays on the books in a...
