Neibich v. Reddit, Inc.
Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles
- Court
- Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles
- Docket
- No. 20STCV10291
- Parties
- Joseph Neibich (screenwriting-contest operator) vs. Reddit, Inc., an r/Screenwriting moderator, and 50+ unnamed Reddit users (Does)
- Claim type
- defamation
- Filed
- 2020-03-13
- Outcome
- The moderator defendant was dismissed roughly two months after filing (Order of Dismissal dated May 12, 2020), per Reddit's Supreme Court amicus brief, citing Section 230 protection for moderation and curation activity.
Summary
After users in the r/Screenwriting community raised concerns that certain screenwriting competitions appeared fraudulent, the contests' operator sued the subreddit's moderator and more than 50 anonymous community members. The complaint alleged defamation along with intentional interference with prospective economic advantage and intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress, faulting the moderator for pinning the critical posts and continuing to comment on and update the thread. The moderator was dismissed from the case about two months later. Reddit later cited the matter in U.S. Supreme Court amicus briefs as an example of Section 230 protecting volunteer moderators and ordinary users from litigation over community moderation.