Center for Democracy & Technology Files Amicus Brief in Patterson v. Meta

On August 27, 2026, the Center for Democracy & Technology and the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education filed an amicus brief in the case of Patterson v. Meta. CDT filed this brief to bring to the court’s attention the broader impacts on free expression that weakening Section 230 will have on speech that is constitutionally protected but controversial. The brief explains that Section 230’s liability protections are essential to enable free expression online, and they extend to the use of automated systems to engage to rank and order content as part of traditional publishing activities. It further argues that product liability claims do not fall outside of Section 230’s ambit, requiring courts to consider whether a particular product liability claim seeks to hold a service provider liable as a publisher of third party content. This appeal follows a significant victory in the lower court, which favorably cited CDT’s earlier amicus brief in holding that content-ranking algorithms are protected editorial activity under Section 230.