Prager University v. Google LLC

951 F.3d 991 (2020)

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Prager University v. Google LLC

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
951 F.3d 991 (2020)

Facts

Prager University (PragerU) (plaintiff) was a politically conservative nonprofit that created and posted videos on the internet. YouTube LLC (defendant), a private entity owned by Google LLC (defendant), allowed users to post videos for public viewing. Users had to accept YouTube’s terms of service to post a video. These terms stated that YouTube could restrict or remove videos. YouTube offered a restricted-mode feature that users could turn on to limit the availability of certain mature content. Content was classified as restricted by either an automated algorithm or user reports. A user whose video was restricted could file an appeal, and YouTube employees would then personally review the content and classification. PragerU posted hundreds of videos on YouTube, and several dozen were classified as restricted. PragerU appealed pursuant to YouTube’s policies, and after review, multiple PragerU videos remained classified as restricted. PragerU sued Google and YouTube in federal district court for claims including violation of the First Amendment based on YouTube’s censorship of PragerU’s speech. PragerU argued that although YouTube was a private entity, it functioned as a state actor because it performed a quintessential government public function. PragerU filed a motion for a preliminary injunction ordering YouTube to remove the restricted classification from PragerU’s videos. Google and YouTube filed a motion to dismiss the case. The district court denied PragerU’s motion and granted the motion to dismiss, allowing PragerU time to amend its federal claims before the dismissal was entered. PragerU did not amend its claims and instead filed an appeal.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (McKeown, J.)

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