LOS ANGELS — Free Speech Coalition has joined civil rights and sex worker rights groups in filing “friend of the court” amicus briefs defending Twitter, Craigslist and Omegle against FOSTA-enabled civil litigation alleging they profited from sex trafficking.
FSC Executive Director Alison Boden said, “Since the passage of FOSTA in 2018, we’ve seen numerous litigants sue platforms for the actions of independent users on those platforms. We are concerned that the courts are not giving proper weight to the protections of First Amendment and Section 230, nor the limitations of the FOSTA exemption.”
Boden thanked the ACLU for inviting FSC to join the briefs, and said her organization was “proud to stand alongside them in defense of our constitutional rights.”
The rest of FSC's statement follows:
Amicus briefs are a critical method for advocacy organizations like FSC and other interested parties to contribute to the legal analysis in pending litigation, providing insight, experience and knowledge that may not be otherwise apparent to the court. In addition to joining with other organizations on amicus briefs, FSC has filed its own amici in cases related more directly to the adult industry, in addition to successfully defending the rights of the industry at the US Supreme Court in Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition.
“FSC has specialized knowledge of the history of sexual speech and its direct implications for free expression that other 1st Amendment advocates may not,” said Boden. “We have also taken on fights that others would not, and successfully defended the rights of our industry. This is a history that these amicus briefs build on, and we look forward to growing our legal advocacy work and alliances in the coming year.”
For more information, visit FreeSpeechCoalition.com.