Supreme Court declines case seeking to hold Reddit liable for child porn

The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined an appeal of a case that sought to hold Reddit responsible for child pornography posted on the social media platform.

The brief order simply lists the case, which was filed by a group of anonymous victims and their parents, along with dozens of other cases that the Supreme Court declined to review.

The victims and their families had asked the Supreme Court to reverse a lower court decision that favored Reddit.

Internet companies are legally shielded from liability for content from third parties under Section 230, which passed in 1996 with a carveout passed in 2018.

In their lawsuit against the online forum, the parents and victims cited the carveout, which made it easier for victims to bring civil sex-trafficking claims against companies if the "conduct underlying" the case would equate to criminal federal sex trafficking, according to The Hill.

The main issue was whether the underlying conduct was committed by only the website or the third parties. 

The victims and their families argued that internet companies should be held liable for "knowingly" benefiting from the third party's crime. Reddit argued the case is a "poor vehicle to resolve the question presented because petitioners have not alleged sex trafficking as required by the statute they invoke."

Madeleine Hubbard is an international correspondent for Just the News. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram.