A deaf rights group lost a ruling in the 9th Circuit when the court said CNN did not have to provide captioning services on its website. CNN had earlier lost an anti-SLAPP claim that the actions demanded in the lawsuit would violate their First Amendment rights, but the 9th Circuit reversed that finding. The case is expected to go the California Supreme Court. (Courthouse News Service, February 5, 2014, by Tim Hull)
The California Supreme Court is expected to decide the issue of whether websites are “places of public accommodation” and thereby subject to California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act and Disabled Persons Act which would required the captioning of CNN videos. CNN is expecting to prevail on the grounds that to provide captioning steps on their free speech right to report the news. (Hollywood Reporter, February 5, 2014, by Eriq Gardner)