This is a tragic case involving the marketplace app Letgo. Using an alias, Brown listed a stolen car for sale on the app. The Rolands agreed to meet Brown in person to buy the car. At the meeting, Brown tried to rob them at gunpoint. When the husband fought back, Brown shot them both dead. This lawsuit seeks to hold Letgo liable for the murders.
Section 230
With respect to whether the claims treat Letgo as a publisher/speaker, the court correctly says this case resembles Doe v. MySpace:
Plaintiffs’ claims arise from content Brown provided, including his false name, the working telephone number, and his purported desire to sell a car. Those claims — seeking to hold Letgo responsible for failing to adequately verify the content that was in Brown’s advertisement –are expressly precluded under the Doe v. MySpace analysis.
The Section 230 analysis then goes sideways. Brown used a