A U.S. federal judge dismisses a proposed class-action lawsuit accusing Apple of failing to stop child sexual abuse material (CSAM) from being stored or shared through iCloud. The case, first reported in August 2024, alleges that Apple did not take adequate steps to address the presence of CSAM on its cloud service.
According to Reuters coverage cited by multiple outlets, U.S. District Judge Noel Wise, in San Jose, California, rules that Apple is protected from the claims under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Section 230 generally shields online platforms from certain types of liability for content posted or generated by third parties.
The dismissal ends the attempted class-action at the district court level, with the court finding that the legal theory presented by the plaintiffs does not overcome the statutory protections invoked by Apple. The ruling focuses on the application of Section 230 to the lawsuit’s allegations regarding iCloud’s handling of third-party content rather than reaching the merits of whether CSAM was prevented or detected in every instance described by the plaintiffs.
