A teenager was abused by her teacher. The Supreme Court declined to weigh Snapchat's role
WASHINGTON − First came the request for the 15-year-old’s Snapchat username.
Then the science teacher began sending seductive photos.
A sexual relationship followed that ended when the student overdosed on prescription drugs, eventually landing the teacher in jail for sexual assault.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court declined to decide if the student can sue Snapchat. Four justices have to agree to hear an appeal.
Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, who wanted to take the case, said the court chose "not to address whether social-media platforms − some of the largest and most powerful companies in the world − can be held responsible for their own misconduct."
"Although the Court denies certiorari today, there will be other opportunities in the future," Thomas wrote in a dissent joined by Gorsuch. "But, make no mistake about it − there is danger in delay."
The case was championed by child abuse prevention groups but it involved the much broader issue of whether social media companies can be sued over user-generated content.
Last year, the Supreme Court avoided ruling on whether a controversial 1996 federal law, known as Section 230, provides broad immunity to Big Tech companies.
More: In win for Google, Supreme Court sidesteps question some feared could break the internet
The court found a way to decide a case involving Google without addressing questions about Section 230. But those questions have persisted.
Congress has debated the issue for years, unable to agree on whether the law should change.
In the meantime, Snapchat says, courts have consistently ruled that, as currently written, Section 230 shields platforms from liability for publishing third-party content.
“Snapchat is no more responsible for the teacher’s criminal acts than the phone company that hosted her text messages to petitioner or the car that drove the teacher to school,” the company’s lawyers told the Supreme Court. “The alleged facts of this case are disturbing, but they have little to do with Snap.”
The student said his science teacher used Snapchat to send him inappropriate message and photographs, encouraged him to take drugs and sexually assaulted him.
The teacher pleaded guilty to sexual assault in 2022.
Does Snapchat lack safety features?
Lawyers for the student, who is identified in the lawsuit as John Doe, argued Snapchat lacks safety features to prevent illicit communications between adults and minors and has become “a haven for pedophiles and molesters.”
“Every time a teenager refreshes a feed, he or she could be the target of online abuse,” the lawyers told the Supreme Court. “Yet social media companies are not taking reasonable and obvious steps to protect children online, and courts have applied Section 230 to cut off any means to hold them accountable.”
A bipartisan group of attorneys general urged the Supreme Court to take the case, as did child abuse prevention groups.
“Social media companies must be held accountable for the harm they are exacting on children through their own misconduct,” lawyers for Child USA and other groups told the court.
When the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reviewed the case, the judges split over whether to reconsider the court's previous interpretation of Section 230 that was used to dismiss Doe’s challenge. Seven of the 15 judges said that interpretation went beyond what lawmakers' intended to protect social media companies.
Now, Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod wrote for the judges who wanted to revisit the issue, “it is once again up to our nation’s highest court to properly interpret the statutory language.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Supreme Court declines to review Snapchat teen sex abuse case
