Yelp, the popular crowd-sourced review platform, has taken a heavy hit in its legal spat with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. In an ongoing battle over how Yelp flagged pregnancy resource centers on its app, the court has favored Texas' stance against the company's alerts, which Paxton claimed were misleading Texans.
Paxton threw the legal gauntlet in September last year, accusing Yelp of playing foul under the Deceptive Trade Practices Act. The centers in question were branded with disclaimers that, per the lawsuit, unjustly smeared these establishments for offering pregnancy counseling over abortion services. Yelp's bold leader had openly expressed intentions to use his platform for abortion advocacy, particularly to challenge the State of Texas's staunch pro-life leaning laws.
Attorney General Ken Paxton Secures Major Victory in Legal Battle with Yelp Over Deceiving Users About Pregnancy Resource Centers: https://t.co/PhUZlGom48
— Texas Attorney General (@TXAG) February 2, 2024
According to a press release from the Texas Attorney General's Office, Paxton declared the court's decision a significant triumph. "Yelp cannot mislead and deceive the public simply because the company disagrees with our state's laws," Paxton said, celebrating the dismissal of Yelp's federal lawsuit as a turn of the tide against what he labeled a frivolous effort to sidestep Texas enforcement.
Yelp, not waiting for the legal bell to toll, had fired off a preemptive lawsuit against Paxton, reaching for a preliminary injunction to shield themselves from the state's legal maneuvers. But the blocking move, delivered by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, was sent packing with their suit thrown out, asserting Yelp's effort to avoid penalties.
The battle is hardly over, with Paxton resolved to keep the pressure on the review platform, insisting that companies like Yelp must not encroach on consumer rights, nor on the state statutes they are bound to respect, by using corporate clout to sway public opinion on polarizing issues. Texas, as it stands, is gearing up to enforce its laws without yielding to the ideological leanings of tech magnates.
