Decision rejecting religious organizations' challenge to Vimeo's policies is vacated

In March, the Court of Appeals held that a religious organization could not sue Vimeo, an Internet video platform, for religious discrimination after Vimeo removed its videos on the ground that the religious organization  violated Vimeo's policies barring the promotion of "sexual orientation change efforts." The case interpreted the Communications Decency Act, which states that no provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be held liable for:

any action voluntarily taken in good faith to restrict access to or availability of material that the provider or user considers to be obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, excessively violent, harassing, or otherwise objectionable, whether or not such material is constitutionally protected; or any action taken to enable or make available to information content providers or others the technical means to restrict access to [the] material described.

The March ruling has now been vacated. The Court of Appeals has granted the religious organization's petition for rehearing. The order was issued on July 15. The district court's ruling, which also rejected the organization's argument, remains in place.

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