A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against Netflix that was brought by the family of a teenager whose suicide was allegedly triggered by watching '13 Reasons Why'
Netflix cautioned in court filings that restrictions on content would lead to censorship of creative works, noting movies depicting teen suicide such as. The streaming giant moved to dismiss the lawsuit under California’s anti-SLAPP statute, which compels the dismissal of claims challenging speech that might be protected.
During the hearing on the motion to dismiss, Ryan Hamilton, a partner at Hamilton Law representing the plaintiff, pushed back against claims that the lawsuit is about the show’s content. He centered his arguments around Netflix’s algorithm, which he characterized as a dangerous product feature.