Pastor Loses Vimeo Battle Over Ex-Gay Torture Clips

Bloomberg Law News reports:

Vimeo Inc. defeated a lawsuit by a self-described “former homosexual” who accused the video hosting website of discrimination after it removed his videos discussing sexual orientation conversion efforts, according to a Wednesday ruling by the Southern District of New York.

James Domen’s lawsuit, which raised discrimination claims under New York and California law, is preempted by the federal Communications Decency Act, Magistrate Judge Stewart D. Aaron ruled. Vimeo has immunity under the act as both a publisher and an entity authorized to police content, Aaron said.

Courthouse News reports:

Among a library of 89 videos, Domen and his California-based nonprofit Church United were told that they had violated Vimeo’s terms of service for five uploads that promoted “sexual orientation change efforts.”

When Domen refused to delete the videos, Vimeo shut down his account in December 2018. Domen in turn accused the website of censorship and viewpoint discrimination. He also claimed Vimeo censored him because of his sexual orientation, which he describes as “former homosexual.”

Vimeo bans users from extolling purported gay-conversion therapy, and Domen also failed to show that it had acted in bad faith when it shut down his account, Aaron found.

Vimeo banned ex-gay torture advocacy in 2014.