Walmart said the FTC doesn’t, and can’t, deny the questions the retailer highlighted in its motion to certify for interlocutory appeal the district court’s denial of Walmart’s motion to dismiss the agency’s enforcement action “strike at the heart of the FTC’s legal authority and the proper interpretation of key provisions of the FTC Act.” Walmart filed its reply Thursday (docket 1:22-cv-03372) in U.S. District Court for Northern Illinois in Chicago in support of its bid to challenge the constitutionality of the FTC’s litigation powers before the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Five affiliated Manhattan telemarketing entities agreed to pay Pennsylvania $250,000 to settle allegations they inundated Pennsylvanians with hundreds of thousands of unwanted robocalls (see 2211030056), said a consent petition for final decree filed Thursday (docket 2:22-cv-01551) in U.S. District Court for Western Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh. U.S. District Judge Nicholas Ranjan signed an order Thursday approving the petition and closing the case.

Montana’s TikTok ban violates the First Amendment, and the state doesn’t have authority to enact a law attempting to advance U.S. national security interests, a group of TikTok influencers and users argued in a complaint Wednesday (docket 9:23-cv-00056) in U.S. District Court for Montana in Missoula.

Plaintiffs STC Two and Global Signal asked the court to dismiss with prejudice counterclaims asserted by defendant Thomas Branham in a breach of contract lawsuit in U.S. District Court for Southern Ohio in Columbus. Branham failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted and should be dismissed, STC Two said, said a Wednesday memorandum of law (docket 2:23-cv-00764).

U.S. District Judge Elaine Bucklo for Northern Illinois in Chicago granted (docket 1:22-cv-06779) Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction Wednesday in a privacy case alleging Amazon violated the Illinois Biometric Privacy Act. Plaintiff Cynthia Redd failed to make a prima facie showing of personal jurisdiction, making her not entitled to the limited jurisdictional discovery she requested, said Bucklo, denying Redd’s motion to remand “as moot.”

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals should deny plaintiff-appellant Darrell Seybold’s challenge of the district court’s “proper dismissal” of his complaint that purports to state a whistleblower claim “without any blowing of the whistle” and his breach of contract claim “without any contract,” said Charter Communications’ answering brief Wednesday (docket 23-10104). Seybold alleged in his opening brief April 3 that he was terminated for exposing Charter’s unlawful cooking of the books, in violation of the whistleblower protections in the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act (see 2304040022).

Google will pay $39.9 million, plus 12% post-judgment interest per annum, to settle allegations it duped Washington state consumers about its location-tracking purposes, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson (D) announced Thursday. The AG’s office will use money from the resolution to continue enforcement of the state’s Consumer Protection Act (CPA) he said.

The National Religious Broadcasters (NRB), an international group of Christian communicators, joined a lawsuit (docket 2:23-cv-02705) to block AB 587, a California law that would require social media companies to report content deemed “hate speech” and “disinformation” to the government. “In an environment where much religious viewpoint expression is considered ‘controversial’ speech, NRB is acting to stop the weaponization of new laws against Christian communicators,” said CEO Troy Miller in a Thursday news release. It said NRB members represent “hundreds of millions of listeners, viewers, and readers.”

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to address the application of Section 230 in two terrorist-related cases, saying Thursday lawsuits against Google and Twitter fail to state “plausible” claims.

California’s Age-Appropriate Design Code (AADC) “unconstitutionally infringes” news organizations’ and minors’ First Amendment rights, said the New York Times Co. and Student Press Law Center in an amicus brief Monday (docket 5:22-cv-08861) in U.S. District Court for Northern California in San Jose in support of the injunction NetChoice seeks to block the social media design law from taking effect in July 2024 (see 2303130003).