This week, the Supreme Court punted on an important case that could have clarified important Internet precedent. This decision leaves standing a shocking Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that insulates Twitter for liability when they told a child they would not remove the sexual abuse images of him circulating on their platform.
The Ninth Circuit is arguably the most influential judicial circuit governing tech issues because it presides over Silicon Valley. As such, this sends a dangerous message to tech companies that they can commit federal crimes and face no consequences.
We speak of the Supreme Court’s decision not to review our lawsuit against Twitter (now X).
This lawsuit was brought on behalf of two child sex trafficking survivors, John Doe #1 and John Doe #2. When the John Does were thirteen years old, a sex trafficker coerced them into creating child sexual abuse material (CSAM, or “child pornography” under the law) of themselves. The CSAM was posted on Twitter and went viral, causing the boys severe emotional distress.
John Doe #1 became suicidal. John Doe #2 stopped going to school.
John Doe #1 and his mother reported the CSAM to Twitter multiple times, providing proof of the boy’s age.But Twitter replied:
“We’ve reviewed the content, and didn’t find a violation of our policies, so no action will be taken at this time.”
In other words, Twitter knowingly possessed and distributed CSAM. This is a crime under federal law.
But apparently, the richest and most powerful companies in the world can commit federal crimes and face no legal consequences.
As the John Does’ pursued their case through the various levels of the court system, judges repeatedly ruled that Twitter was immune for knowingly possessing and distributing CSAM, under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
But the NCOSE Law Center argued this was an egregious misreading of Section 230, which was never intended to immunize tech companies for committing crimes or facilitating child exploitation.In fact, the text of Section 230 specifically states that it provides protection for “Good Samaritan” platforms trying to remove offensive material. Extending this protection to a platform’s own alleged criminal conduct is a grave miscarriage of justice in our view.
The Supreme Court was the John Does’ last chance to have this ruling reversed. But the Supreme Court declined to review the ruling.
This is a heavy blow for the John Does, their families, and to the entire movement against sexual exploitation. It is also serious cause for concern for the countless children exploring the online world today. What meaningful protections do these children have, if tech companies can escape accountability to such an alarming degree?
But the fight is not over. Where do we go from here?
The Courts Won’t Help, so Congress Must
Judicial misinterpretations of Section 230 have wreaked havoc for decades. We hoped the Supreme Court would step in and clarify these misinterpretations. But now we must turn to Congress to change this outdated law.
If the Supreme Court was going to take a case on Section 230, the Twitter case was an excellent vehicle for them to finally clarify the scope of Section 230’s protections. In this case, Twitter confirmed in writing that it reviewed contraband child sexual abuse material and decided it didn’t violate their policies. It is difficult to imagine a case with stronger facts than that.
As such, we are left with the disheartening conclusion that the Supreme Court will not be clarifying Section 230 anytime soon. This means we must double down on our efforts to repeal or radically reform Section 230.
We urge all members of Congress to look at the John Does’ case and see how far Section 230 has gone. See the dystopian reality it has created. Is this what they want?
If Congress does not want a world where tech companies have license to commit federal crimes, they must support the Sunset Section 230 Act.
This Act would put a two-year expiry date on Section 230. This ticking clock would provide real incentive for Congress to come up with a better solution.
This is an urgent matter. Hundreds of millions of children are being exploited online every year. The time for dragging heels and passing the buck is gone. If the Supreme Court won’t act, Congress must.
CDA Section 230
John Does’ Case Against Twitter is Not Over
While the John Does’ case has been significantly diminished by the Supreme Court’s decision, it is not over.
When the Ninth Circuit reviewed our case in August 2025, they did allow certain claims to proceed. We will continue to represent the John Does’ on these claims in the trial court.
It is disappointing that the most important aspects of our case were thrown out—specifically, our claims that Twitter knowingly possessed and distributed CSAM and knowingly benefitted from a sex trafficking venture. Both of these are federal crimes. The fact that Twitter was granted immunity for their alleged role in these crimes sends a terrifying message to the rest of the tech industry, which will assuredly lead to more online sexual exploitation.
However, the Ninth Circuit ruled to let our case proceed on two important claims:
- The negligence per se claim, based on the allegations thatTwitter violated the law by failing to report known CSAM to the National Center on Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).
- The product liability claim, based on the allegations that Twitter made itunreasonably difficult for users to report CSAM to the platform.
Through these surviving claims, we hope to win a measure of justice for the John Does and gain a degree of accountability for the tech industry.
Learn more about the Ninth Circuit’s decision and which aspects of our case will proceed here.
The Importance of Perseverance
With the Twitter case, we set out to do what had never been done before: reverse disastrous misinterpretations of Section 230 at the highest court.
This is something we do regularly at the NCOSE Law Center: attempt the near impossible. We intentionally take challenging cases, because we want to set new, positive precedents and reform bad ones. That is the only way to create mass-scale change. We choose our cases with an aim to pave new paths to justice for survivors everywhere.
But since we constantly seek to do the impossible, we must be prepared for setbacks.
What’s important is that we always keep fighting. And if we do, we will win in the long run.
If there’s one thing the Supreme Court’s decision has shown us, it’s that victory against sexual exploitation is not inevitable. That’s exactly why it’s imperative that we keep showing up and doing this work. It is not the case that we can simply leave things be, and they will work out well on their own.
The stakes are real. The fight is hard. But with you at our side, we will always, always persevere.
