Case 1:20-mc-00036-JEB-ZMF Document 22 Filed 09/22/21 Page 21 of 32
Congress’s use of the word “may” to frame an exception to the Act’s general
prohibition on disclosure is not such a “clear expression of . . . intent” as
will justify a reading of the Act that categorically immunizes service
providers against compulsory civil process where the disclosure sought is
excepted on other grounds from the protections afforded by the Act
. . . . Insofar as the Act permits a given disclosure, it permits a court to
compel that disclosure . . . .
Facebook, Inc. v. Super. Ct., 417 P.3d 725, 751 (2018) (quoting Negro v. Superior Court, 179 Cal.
Rptr. 3d 215, 233–34. (2014)). Without clear statutory intent to show otherwise, this Court cannot
logically conclude that Congress gave Facebook greater power over discovery than the judiciary.
Thus, this Court concurs with the California Supreme Court that courts may compel production of
communications excepted from SCA protections. See id.
a.
Consent Exception
The consent exception is largely applicable here because much of the content The Gambia
seeks was posted publicly before Facebook removed it. “[O]ne who posts a communication with
a reasonable basis for knowing that it will be available to the public should be considered to have
implicitly consented to such disclosure under section 2702(b)(3).” Id. at 742 (citing Viacom Int’l
Inc. v. YouTube Inc., 253 F.R.D. 256, 265 (S.D.N.Y. 2008)). This is because the SCA “was
intended to cover and protect only private and not public posts.” Id. at 739. Facebook agrees that
it has the discretion to disclose public content under the consent exception. See Conf. Tr. at 65–
66.
Because social media is public by nature, “the critical inquiry is whether Facebook users
took steps to limit access to the information in their posts.” Facebook, 417 P.3d at 741 (quoting
Ehling v. Monmouth-Ocean Hosp. Serv. Corp., 961 F. Supp. 2d 659, 668 (D.N.J. 2013)). Not all
“public” Facebook posts are created equally—users set some to be public to anyone at any time,
while others are shared only to members of a group or followers of a page. See When I post
21