Young v. Facebook, Inc.
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''Young v. Facebook, Inc.'', 790 F. Supp. 2d 1110, is a ''
pro se ''Pro se'' legal representation ( or ) comes from Latin ''pro se'', meaning "for oneself" or "on behalf of themselves" which, in modern law, means to argue on one's own behalf in a legal proceeding, as a defendant or plaintiff in civil cases, ...
'' internet law case in which the plaintiff sued the social network
Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...
following the termination of her
user account A user is a person who utilizes a computer or network service. A user often has a user account and is identified to the system by a username (or user name). Other terms for username include login name, screenname (or screen name), accoun ...
. In her original complaint, the plaintiff, Karen Beth Young, alleged violation of her
First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
and Fourteenth Amendment rights, breach of contract, breach of the
implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing In contract law, the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing is a general presumption that the parties to a contract will deal with each other honestly, fairly, and in good faith, so as to not destroy the right of the other party or parties ...
,
negligence Negligence (Lat. ''negligentia'') is a failure to exercise appropriate and/or ethical ruled care expected to be exercised amongst specified circumstances. The area of tort law known as ''negligence'' involves harm caused by failing to act as a ...
, and fraud. In the U.S. District Court of Northern California, Facebook moved to dismiss the claim, and on October 25, 2010, presiding Judge Jeremy Fogel granted the motion to dismiss with leave to amend.''Young v. Facebook, Inc.''
No. 5:10-cv-03579-JF/PVT (N.D. Cal. 2010).
Redirecting her complaint, Young alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act and related state laws on disability, as well as breach of contract and negligence. Again, Facebook moved to dismiss, and Judge Fogel dismissed the case without leave to amend.


Background

Karen Beth Young of
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
created an account on Facebook in February 2010 in order to connect with friends, family, and strangers.
Young v. Facebook Original Complaint
', (N.D. Ca. 2010).
Young's mother and sister were both fighting breast cancer at the time and Young created two pages to promote cancer awareness. She quickly amassed over 4,000 friends by sending friend invites to others supportive of the cancer cause and by receiving requests from strangers who were interested in and concerned about her cancer patient support efforts. Young then came across a page praying for the death of U.S. President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
, and she spoke out against the page. She was then subjected to "hatred, violence, discrimination, threats, pornography, kkk, violence and personal attacks ." In conjunction with her public opposition of the hate page and her allegedly "spammy" activity, her profile was disabled. Young then traveled from Maryland to Facebook's headquarters in California and sought reactivation of her account. In testimony, she stated that she did not receive "human interaction" with a Facebook account representative at Facebook's offices, and had to provide a written message to a receptionist for forwarding to an unknown recipient. She filled out a complaint form and was not allowed to speak with a Facebook account representative. Later, she received Facebook email stating her account was reactivated, but she was not provided any opportunity to discuss her account details so she traveled back to Maryland. Shortly thereafter, Young again found her account disabled. According to Facebook, Young had engaged in activity that violated Facebook's statement of rights and responsibilities, although Young states she did nothing to prompt the second disabling of her account
Motion to Dismiss by Facebook
'.
which resulted in permanent termination of her account. Young then drove back to California to file a lawsuit in the
Northern District of California The United States District Court for the Northern District of California (in case citations, N.D. Cal.) is the federal United States district court whose jurisdiction comprises the following counties of California: Alameda, Contra Costa, De ...
.


Original complaint and motion to dismiss

Young claimed six causes of action in her first complaint against Facebook; a violation of her
First Amendment First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...
and Fourteenth Amendment rights, a breach of contract, a breach of implied covenant of faith and fair dealing, negligence, and fraud.


Civil rights violation

Young argued that Facebook deprived her of equal protection under the law by terminating her account, and she sought to state this claim under . She pointed out her disability. She claimed that Facebook was a government actor and acted "under
color Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are assoc ...
of state law". She stated that Facebook hosted the profiles of several State and government departments, demonstrating a contract between Facebook and the state. However, Facebook argued that it was a private entity, and the court agreed, arguing that "Young shows no relationship between Facebook's government contracts and the particular actions that she alleges violated her rights".


Breach of contract

Young referenced Facebook's own statement of rights and responsibilities that forbids users against posting content that is "hateful, threatening, or pornographic; incites violence; or contains nudity" and claimed that Facebook acted in "deliberate indifference to the rights of the Plaintiff". However, Facebook has long held a policy against any policing of content in its statement of rights and responsibilities.Facebook's Statement of Rights and Responsibilities
The court agreed and stated "while these provisions place restrictions on users' behavior, they do not create affirmative obligations".


Breach of implied covenant of faith and fair dealing

Young claimed that Facebook broke the
implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing In contract law, the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing is a general presumption that the parties to a contract will deal with each other honestly, fairly, and in good faith, so as to not destroy the right of the other party or parties ...
by failing to provide the adequate safety services it advertised and by ultimately deactivating the account without "human interaction". Facebook claimed that it never agreed to provide safety services and that the covenant of good faith could not alter that fact. Furthermore, Facebook was also protected under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act which provides immunity for
internet service provider An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise privat ...
s who publish information generated by third parties."" The court sided with Facebook on this point as well, stating that Facebook had sent Young an email notifying her of the account termination, in accordance with its policies, upholding its contract.


Negligence and Fraud

The plaintiff alleged negligence and fraud on the part of Facebook. However, the court found that the plaintiff did not show that Facebook had a duty on which to base the negligence claim, and that the plaintiff's claim of fraud lacked enough specificity to proceed with legal
pleading In law as practiced in countries that follow the English models, a pleading is a formal written statement of a party's claims or defenses to another party's claims in a civil action. The parties' pleadings in a case define the issues to be adju ...
.


Holding

Given the rationale, Judge Jeremy Fogel of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California granted Facebook's motion to dismiss the claim with leave to amend.


Motion to dismiss amended complaint

The plaintiff amended her complaint to include claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act and related state laws. Facebook moved to dismiss the plaintiff's complaints, and Judge Fogel granted the motion on May 17, 2011, finding that Facebook was not a physical place for the purpose of the Americans with Disabilities Act, "despite its frequent use of terms such as 'posts' and 'walls'". Judge Fogel denied leave to amend.


Reception

Eric Goldman Eric Goldman (born April 15, 1968) is a law professor at Santa Clara University School of Law. He also co-directs the law school's High Tech Law Institute. and co-supervises the law school's Privacy Law Certificate. Career overview Goldman is a ...
, an internet law professor at Santa Clara University, noted that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act could well apply to at least some of Young's claims from the second complaint.


See also

* '' National Federation of the Blind v. Target Corporation'' * ''
Ouellette v. Viacom International Inc. ''Ouellette v. Viacom'', No. 9:10-cv-00133; 2011 WL 1882780, found the safe harbor provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) did not create liability for service providers that take down non-infringing works (works having a fair ...
'' * Lawsuits involving Meta Platforms


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Young v. Facebook, Inc. United States Internet case law 2010 in United States case law Facebook litigation United States case law United States District Court for the Northern District of California cases