Overlawyered: Chronicling The High Cost Of Our Legal System

“[Recent law grad] sues Twitter for fake account in her name”

A recent graduate of the University of San Diego’s law school is “fairly upset that someone set up a parody Twitter account pretending to be her that portrayed her in an unflattering light. So she has sued. For $100 million. And she’s not just suing the ‘John Doe’ behind the account… but also Twitter. Oh, and also the University of San Diego.” Section 230 generally immunizes online providers like Twitter from liability for material posted by users. [complaint with handwritten details via Eric Goldman; Mike Masnick, TechDirt]

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4 Comments

  • Wow! The complaint that she filed may do more damage to her job prospects than the defamatory Twitter account. Before I saw it in her complaint, I never knew that Hitler was a communist. Also, a law school graduate should know how to write a complaint, and be familiar with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure as to when a plaintiff may amend her complaint. She should know that the lawsuit against Twitter and U. of San Diego is most likely frivolous, and would be dismissed under Twombly-Iqbal for failure to state a claim.
    Lastly, one cannot sue John Does in federal court; they have to be named and served. She should have asked for pre-action discovery to determine the identity of John Doe.

    Also, the “Streisand Effect” can be fierce. Now that her lawsuit is making its way around the Internet, every prospective employer will see this.

    • By VMS

  • If she was upset about a parody acct, just wait until she sees what happens in real life.

    Her expectation of earning millions in the future just shrank to being a self interested protester for the $15 minimum wage.

    • By Noncenx

  • Wow. Perhaps she should have sued U San Diego for failure to educate? She paid (I assume) good money to successfully graduate so ignorant.

  • Maybe she’s going to be joined by some “good” (in some senses of that word) company:

    BuzzFeed sued over its publication of uncorroborated Trump dossier, McClatchy (Feb. 3, 2017)
    http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/article130659399.html

    What’s a little internet defamation, if it’s all in a good cause?

    • By wfjag