Doe v. MySpace Incorporated
Filed June 30, 2009
Cite as 2009 SOS 4170

CDA Extends to All Civil Claims

Several “Julie Does” who were girls aged 13 to 15 were sexually assaulted by men they met on Myspace.com (MySpace), a social networking site. Those men who sexually assaulted these girls were already serving sentence or waiting trial.

Four parents/guardians (appellants) of the assaulted girls sued MySpace separately for negligence, gross negligence, and strict product liability. They claimed that MySpace did not implement reasonable and basic safety precautions with regard to protecting young children from sexual predators. They even claimed that MySpace should have implemented “readily available and practicable age-verification software or set the default security setting on the Julie Does accounts to private.”

MySpace demurred to the complaint. It alleged that its Terms and Agreement provided that users were prohibited from soliciting personal information from anyone below 18 years old. It also cautioned users not to give information such as phone numbers, addresses and other specific whereabouts.

A demurer to the complaint was sustained as it was barred by section 23. In its amended complaint, they include a section entitled “Plaintiffs Bring No Claims That Implicate the Communications Decency Act.”

MySpace again demurred to the amended complaint. It also requested the court to take judicial notice of its Terms and Agreement and tips for proper use of its site.

The trial court sustained the second demurrer. Hence, four separate appeals were filed.

The California Court of Appeal, in affirming the trial court’s judgment held that MySpace could not be held liable for the assaults made to the girls by men they met on it.

Moreover, the Communications Decency Act expressly indicated that Congress did not intend to limit its grant of immunity to defamation claims but rather intended to extend immunity to all civil claims.