State high court to weigh Yelp case

The California Supreme Court agreed to review Yelp’s objection to a decision ordering it to strip the Internet of comments posted about a San Francisco law firm.

The law firm owner, Dawn Hassell, sued Ava Bird, a disgruntled ex-client who allegedly posted the reviews — and lower courts agreed that Yelp should remove them.

After Hassell severed the relationship, someone posted critical Yelp ratings against the firm, and Hassell concluded Bird had written them. The firm told Bird in an email that her comments were inaccurate and defamatory and asked her to remove them. After she failed to delete the reviews, the firm sued her for defamation. The lawsuit was served where Bird no longer lived, and when she did not respond, a default judgment was entered against her.

An appeals court upheld the removal order, leading Yelp to seek the state Supreme Court’s help. The San Francisco company wasn’t a defendant in the case and didn’t have a chance to be heard at trial.

Other online giants, including Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter and Pinterest, wrote to the court in support of Yelp. Internet law professors and 30 news groups, including The Times, also backed the appeal.

The Communications Decency Act has freed online publishers from liability for user postings on their websites and apps. But many technology experts say the Hassell case may be the biggest threat yet to the immunity.

The appellate court found that no liability was being placed on Yelp, and thus the ruling didn’t go against federal law. Instead, as the “administrator of the forum” where defamatory speech existed, Yelp bears the responsibility of removal, the court said.