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Reason
Reason
Politics
Eugene Volokh

Harvard Crimson Was Entitled to Ban Commenter for What He Claims Were "Anti-Zionist" Comments

From today's decision by Judge Angel Kelley (D. Mass.) in Affleck v. Harvard Crimson Inc.:

Plaintiff Jonathan Affleck [who has also at times litigated as Joachim Martillo -EV] brings this action against Defendant The Harvard Crimson, Inc…. According to the Complaint, the Crimson … deleted Affleck's comments on three articles on the Crimson's website and then suspended Affleck's ability to post. Affleck claims that the Crimson's actions violated the First Amendment …, [the Massachusetts Constitution's free expression provision], and finally, federal and state laws related to common carriage discrimination and public accommodation discrimination….

According to the Complaint, from February 7 to February 10, 2024, Affleck commented, under two different names, 38 times across three articles on the Crimson's website. The three articles focused on Palestine and the Palestinian people…. [In an earlier case, Affleck] "… represent[ed] that each defendant disabled or suspended his account on their respective platforms because he posted content that each defendant deemed to be anti-Zionist."

The court concluded that 47 U.S.C. § 230 precludes all of Affleck's claims:

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