A lawsuit from a researcher who tried to develop a Facebook browser extension called “Unfollow Everything 2.0” has been dismissed for now, the New York Times reported. Ethan Zuckerman of Columbia University’s Knight First Amendment Institute has proposed a novel approach to forcing Meta to allow the development of tools that wipe out the feeds of Facebook users who try to use Section 230 technology. The shield law was enacted by the method.
By way of background, Zuckerman was inspired by a 2021 project called “Unfollow Everything,” which allows users to use Facebook without a newsfeed or to curate their newsfeed to only see posts from specific people. It was something to do. However, Facebook sued the British man who created the extension and permanently disabled his account.
To avoid a similar fate, Zuckerman turned to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996. It is primarily designed as a shield to protect technology platforms from illegal user activity, but there is also another provision protecting developers of third-party tools that “can block content they deem objectionable.” He asked the court to uphold that provision and allow the creation of the Unfollow Everything 2.0 browser extension without being influenced by Meta.
However, the court granted Mehta’s motion to dismiss the case, adding that the researchers may file a lawsuit at a later date. “We are disappointed that the court believes Professor Zuckerman needs to code a tool before the court can resolve the case,” Zuckerman’s attorney said in a statement. “We continue to believe that Section 230 protects user empowerment tools and look forward to the court considering that argument at a later date.” A Meta spokesperson said the lawsuit “has no basis.” There is no such thing.”
Mehta has previously shut down researchers and disabled the Facebook accounts of a New York University team that was trying to study political ad targeting in 2021. Conversely, in 2022, Meta helped acquire 48 million scientific papers to train an AI system called Galactica, but was shut down shortly thereafter. Two days of spreading false information.
