August 2, 2025: A federal appeals court has partially revived a lawsuit accusing X, formerly Twitter, of negligence for its delayed response to a child exploitation video. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Friday that while online platforms are generally protected by broad legal immunity, that protection does not apply when they fail to promptly report child exploitation content they have “actual knowledge” of.
The case involves a video containing explicit images of two underage boys that was posted on Twitter. According to court documents, the platform took nine days to remove the content and report it to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), during which time the video accumulated over 167,000 views.
Circuit Judge Danielle Forrest stated that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, a law that typically shields platforms from liability for user-generated content, does not cover the negligence claim once X was aware of the pornography. “The facts alleged here… separates the duty to report child pornography to NCMEC from Twitter’s role as a publisher,” she wrote.
The court’s decision also requires X to face a claim that its reporting infrastructure was too difficult to use. However, the platform was granted immunity from claims that it knowingly profited from sex trafficking or that its search features “amplify” such posts. The lawsuit predates Elon Musk’s purchase of the company in 2022. Dani Pinter, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, expressed optimism, saying they “look forward to discovery and ultimately trial against X to get justice and accountability.”