A researcher who developed a browser extension that would allow Facebook users to “turn off their newsfeed” preemptively has sued Meta, seeking a judicial declaration that his software tool is “immunized from legal liability” under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

The Foundation for Moral Law, a religious liberties nonprofit, thinks that the federal government’s handling of COVID-19 information “has led to unprecedented infringements on our fundamental freedoms,” said its U.S. Supreme Court amicus brief Monday (docket 23-1062) in Changizi v. Department of Health and Human Services.

A February data breach at United Healthcare Group (UHG) resulted in network disruptions that have endangered the health and well-being of millions of Americans, alleged a class action Tuesday (docket 0:24-cv-01559) in U.S. District Court for Minnesota.

Delphinus Engineering, a professional services provider and U.S. military contractor, lost control over current and former employees’ personally identifiable information (PII) in an Oct. 23 data breach, alleged a class action Tuesday (docket 2:24-cv-01810) in U.S. District Court for Eastern Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. The company notified victims 177 days after the breach began, it said.

TechFreedom urged the FCC not to use an “obscure provision” on digital discrimination, buried deep in the “enormous” Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, to “smuggle onerous common-carrier regulations” onto the internet. TechFreedom’s position was detailed as part of an amicus brief Tuesday (docket 24-1179) in the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Microsoft and OpenAI are “purloining” millions of copyrighted newspaper articles without permission and without payment to “fuel the commercialization” of their generative AI products, including ChatGPT and Copilot, alleged eight major local newspapers in a copyright infringement suit Tuesday (docket 1:24-cv-03285) in U.S. District Court for Southern New York in Manhattan. A similar New York Times lawsuit has been pending against Microsoft and OpenAI in the same court since Dec. 27 (see 2312270044).

If Montana’s statewide TikTok ban, SB-419, were to go into effect, it would shut down “a unique and popular platform for speech” used by “several hundred thousand” Montanans, said TikTok’s answering brief Monday (docket 24-34) in the 9th U.S. Circuit Appeals Court. Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen’s (R) appeal seeks to vacate the district court injunction that blocks him from enforcing SB-419 (see 2403020001).

Government IT contractor Booz Allen Hamilton disclosed the tax return information of Energy Transfer Partners Executive Chairman Kelcy Warren “with the intent that ProPublica would widely publish the information through its website or through other means and accordingly injure" him, alleged Warren's complaint Monday (docket 8:24-cv-01252) in U.S. District Court for Southern Maryland in Greenbelt.

Here are Communications Litigation Today's top stories from last week, in case you missed them. Each can be found by searching on its title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

Sapulpa, Oklahoma, unlawfully denied Verizon’s application for two permits to build and operate a 175-foot cell tower, alleged the carrier's Telecommunications Act complaint Monday (docket 4:24-cv-00192) in U.S. District Court for Northern Oklahoma in Tulsa.