WASHINGTON, DC (December 11, 2023) – Today, a lawsuit brought by two survivors of sex trafficking was dismissed by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The Plaintiffs’ legal team, composed of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation Law Center, The Haba Law Firm, and The Matiasic Firm, provided the following response to the news of the dismissal of John Doe #1 and John Doe #2 v. Twitter, Inc.
“This lawsuit sought to hold a massive social media platform accountable for knowingly and recklessly spreading child pornography – also known as child sexual abuse material (“CSAM”) – of two young boys. Today’s ruling shows the errors with Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which immunizes companies like X from any kind of accountability. These two boys will suffer from this for the rest of their lives, but X has no legal consequence or deterrent from continuing the same type of harm.
“X Corp. reviewed obvious CSAM, and then refused to remove these criminal videos from their platform. Instead, X continued to profit from the exploitation of two 13-year-old boys.
“X Corp. has never challenged these facts. In fact, from the beginning of this case, X Corp. has argued that it has complete immunity from suit, even if it knowingly possessed and profited from the distribution of CSAM. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act needs reform to ensure that no company – whether they are online or with a brick-and-mortar storefront – can operate with impunity and be permitted to knowingly profit from the exploitation of children.
“The legal team for John Doe #1 and John Doe #2 will continue to seek justice and accountability on their behalf and are considering their appellate options.”
About The Haba Law Firm, P.A.
The Haba Law Firm is a an award winning law firm in Florida that provides excellence in civil litigation on behalf of human trafficking and sexual abuse survivors. Haba Law prides itself on its aggressive and effective representation, honesty, and trauma-informed, victim-centered advocacy.
About National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE)
Founded in 1962, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) is the leading national non-partisan organization exposing the links between all forms of sexual exploitation such as child sexual abuse, prostitution, sex trafficking and the public health harms of pornography.
About The Matiasic Firm
The Matiasic Firm is an award-winning law firm based in California dedicated to providing the highest caliber trial advocacy to victims of sexual abuse, wrongful death, and catastrophic injuries. The firm is perennially lauded for its unrivaled acumen in these areas and its record-setting results, as the firm has garnered the highest recovery across three different categories of cases and four separate jurisdictions. The firm is regularly called upon to prosecute the highest-profile, socially impactful cases.
