Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday temporarily blocked a congressional subpoena that seeks information on how the classified advertising website Backpage.com screens ads for possible sex trafficking.
The order came hours after Backpage CEO Carl Ferrer asked the high court to intervene, saying the case threatens the First Amendment rights of online publishers.
A federal appeals court ruled 2-1 on Friday that the website must respond to the subpoena within 10 days. Roberts said Backpage does not have to comply with the appeals court order until further action from the Supreme Court.
[...] The Senate panel has tried for nearly a year to force Backpage to produce certain documents as part of its investigation into human trafficking over the Internet.
After the website refused to comply, the Senate voted 96-0 in March to hold the website in contempt.
[...] While Backpage has produced over 16,000 pages of documents responding to the subpoena, Ferrer said documents relating to the website's system for reviewing ads are part of the editorial process protected under the First Amendment.
"This case presents a question of exceptional nationwide importance involving the protection the First Amendment provides to online publishers of third-party content when they engage in core editorial functions," Ferrer said in a brief filed to Roberts.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SUPREME_COURT_SEX_TRAFFICKING
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 07 2016, @04:41PM
I'm sure there aren't many congressional votes are 100% in-favor besides confirming low-level appointments, naming post offices, or giving themselves a raise.
If there was a non-binding resolution to say the sky was blue, then some person would probably disagree (e.g. The weather in the great state of Vermont is currently cloudy, so I will vote against the resolution. Also, I've attached a rider to the bill that will require all paper used in official government activities be sourced from my home state.).
(Score: 5, Insightful) by WalksOnDirt on Wednesday September 07 2016, @05:28PM
You are missing the point. Backpage is saying no to a Congressional committee. Congress can't abide that! Luckily, the Supreme Court can.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday September 07 2016, @06:11PM
It's good for spoiled children to be told "no" now and then.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 07 2016, @07:23PM
I'm not sure where you're from, but in my neck of the woods spoiled children do not have armed criminal gangs at the ready to stick guns up the noses of the people to get them to do their bidding.