The US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has issued an opinion in the Tawainna Anderson v. TikTok case in favor of the lawsuit proceeding on the grounds that Section 230 does not apply to platforms when it comes to algorithmic curation of content.
That interpretation of the CDA’s much-debated section may or may not come back to haunt many major (US) social platforms, including where issues of free speech and censorship are concerned.
But for now, the story concerns China’s TikTok and one of the “viral challenges” posted on the social app by a third party, which resulted in a tragedy.
Namely, the lawsuit was brought by the mother of a 10-year-old who died while trying to complete a TikTok “blackout challenge.” The platform is accused of liability related to the death because this content is claimed to have been recommended algorithmically.
