Satanic Temple Defamation Dispute Revived by Ninth Circuit

A Facebook page isn’t a domain name under the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, the Ninth Circuit ruled in affirming in part a dismissal of a Satanic Temple lawsuit.

When the Satanic Temple removed board members of its Washington chapter from office, the board members falsely ascribed “extremist ideologies and affiliations” to the Temple on the chapter’s Facebook page, it alleged. The lower court said the Temple failed to state a cyberpiracy or defamation claim, dismissing both.

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of the cyberpiracy claim but revived the defamation claim.

While the ACPA covers bad faith use of an ...