Post by 32Green on Jan 11, 2019 7:57:17 GMT -5
A man whose lawsuit against gay dating app Grinder was dismissed is speaking out after filing an appeal.
Attorneys for actor Matthew Herrick, 32, made oral arguments in his case on Tuesday before the US Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit.
Herrick had broken up with a man he met on Grindr and deleted his profile on the app when he says 1,000 men began showing up at his New York City home and work between October 2016 and March 2017.
According to court filings, the vengeful ex had created fake profiles of Herrick on Grinder,
Herrick said the fake profiles falsely claimed that he was an HIV-positive Donald Trump supporter who was interested in unprotected sex and bondage, and that he was 'Waiting on all 4's with my a** lubed,' one of the fake profiles read, court filings show.
'It was a horror film,' Herrick told BuzzFeed News in an interview published on Thursday. 'It's just like a constant Groundhog Day, but in the most horrible way you can imagine. It was like an episode of Black Mirror.'
The ex, identified in the court filings only as J.C., was arrested on October 23, 2017.
He is charged with stalking, criminal impersonation, making a false police report, and disobeying a court order. He has pleaded not guilty and is being held on a $500,000 bond.
Herrick's suit against Grindr stated that he logged 50 complaints to Grindr about the fake accounts and filed 14 police reports, but nothing came of them. Grindr only removed the profiles after he filed the complaint and a judge order the company to take action, Herrick's attorneys claim.
Herrick says his ex created fake profiles of him on Grinder, using screen names like 'Raw Pig Bottom' and 'Gang Bang Now!'. Herrick is seen above starring in the short-lived series DTLA +5
In June 2017, Grindr asked a Manhattan federal court judge to toss out Herrick's claims.
The company said the Communications Decency Act protected it from liability and Herrick should sue his ex-lover instead.
The 1996 law protects online publishers from legal risk over the information provided by users, such as people who post on Facebook or comment on news articles.
The law states that 'No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.'
Grindr said at the time that it can't be blamed because Herrick got 'mixed up with a tech savvy, judgment-proof individual.'
A judge agreed and tossed the suit, leading Herrick to file his appeal.
In oral arguments on Monday, Herrick's attorneys argued that Grindr had a responsibility to filter out malfeasance from its platform.
Experts say that it the appeals court sides with Herrick, it could have wide-ranging implications, opening the door to similar lawsuits against Facebook, Twitter, and other companies who rely on the Communications Decency Act to shield them from legal liability over user-generated content.
Attorneys for actor Matthew Herrick, 32, made oral arguments in his case on Tuesday before the US Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit.
Herrick had broken up with a man he met on Grindr and deleted his profile on the app when he says 1,000 men began showing up at his New York City home and work between October 2016 and March 2017.
According to court filings, the vengeful ex had created fake profiles of Herrick on Grinder,
Herrick said the fake profiles falsely claimed that he was an HIV-positive Donald Trump supporter who was interested in unprotected sex and bondage, and that he was 'Waiting on all 4's with my a** lubed,' one of the fake profiles read, court filings show.
'It was a horror film,' Herrick told BuzzFeed News in an interview published on Thursday. 'It's just like a constant Groundhog Day, but in the most horrible way you can imagine. It was like an episode of Black Mirror.'
The ex, identified in the court filings only as J.C., was arrested on October 23, 2017.
He is charged with stalking, criminal impersonation, making a false police report, and disobeying a court order. He has pleaded not guilty and is being held on a $500,000 bond.
Herrick's suit against Grindr stated that he logged 50 complaints to Grindr about the fake accounts and filed 14 police reports, but nothing came of them. Grindr only removed the profiles after he filed the complaint and a judge order the company to take action, Herrick's attorneys claim.
Herrick says his ex created fake profiles of him on Grinder, using screen names like 'Raw Pig Bottom' and 'Gang Bang Now!'. Herrick is seen above starring in the short-lived series DTLA +5
In June 2017, Grindr asked a Manhattan federal court judge to toss out Herrick's claims.
The company said the Communications Decency Act protected it from liability and Herrick should sue his ex-lover instead.
The 1996 law protects online publishers from legal risk over the information provided by users, such as people who post on Facebook or comment on news articles.
The law states that 'No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.'
Grindr said at the time that it can't be blamed because Herrick got 'mixed up with a tech savvy, judgment-proof individual.'
A judge agreed and tossed the suit, leading Herrick to file his appeal.
In oral arguments on Monday, Herrick's attorneys argued that Grindr had a responsibility to filter out malfeasance from its platform.
Experts say that it the appeals court sides with Herrick, it could have wide-ranging implications, opening the door to similar lawsuits against Facebook, Twitter, and other companies who rely on the Communications Decency Act to shield them from legal liability over user-generated content.