Feb. 6, 2026
Section 230 and the California Supreme Court
A 2018 California Supreme Court case over a negative Yelp review produced a divided bench and a ruling that has shaped the limits of Section 230 ever since.
In April 2018, Section 230 was on the docket and oral argument was at hand. The justices of the California Supreme Court faced a vexed and thorny issue: could judicial takedown orders regarding defamatory content override the Communication Decency Act's immunity provisions?
The question, targeting Yelp in the case of Hassell v. Bird, had been brewing for years.
The high court would eventually vote 4-3 to affirm and strengthen Section 230, but only after a m...
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