U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear bid to sue Reddit over child porn

By Andrew Chung

May 30 (Reuters) – The U.S.Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to hear a bid by child pornography victims to overcome a legal shield for internet companies in a case involving a lawsuit accusing Reddit Inc of violating federal law by failing to rid the discussion website of this illegal content.

The justices turned away the appeal of a lower court’s decision to dismiss the proposed class action lawsuit on the grounds that Reddit was shielded by a U.S.statute called Section 230, which safeguards internet companies from lawsuits for content posted by users but has an exception for claims involving child porn sex trafficking.

The Supreme Court on May 19 sidestepped an opportunity to narrow the scope of Section 230 immunity in a separate case.

(Reporting by Andrew Chung in New York; Editing by Will Dunham)