Facebook Wins Dismissal of Suit by Russian ‘News’ Agency

Munger, Tolles & Olson represented Facebook in obtaining dismissal of a lawsuit brought by a Russian “news” agency after Facebook removed the agency’s content from its platform.

The Federal Agency of News, which was alleged to have interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, sued Facebook after its profile was taken down from the social media site in 2018.

On Jan. 13, 2020, Judge Lucy Koh of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed the case with prejudice, ruling that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act “immunizes a website’s removal of political speech.” Judge Koh also held that Facebook could not be held liable under the First Amendment because it was not a “public forum” and its actions did not amount to state action. 

Facebook was represented by Jonathan H. Blavin, Rosemarie T. Ring, Juliana M. Yee and John B. Major in the matter.