Apple Wins Dismissal of $32.8 Billion iCloud CSAM Lawsuit

A federal judge has dismissed a proposed $32.8 billion class-action lawsuit accusing Apple of failing to prevent the spread of child sexual abuse material on iCloud. U.S. District Judge Noël Wise ruled that the company is shielded from the claims under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.



The lawsuit was brought by two plaintiffs seeking to represent a class of 2,680 people with similar allegations. Court filings estimated potential compensatory damages of up to $32.8 billion, and the suit also sought a court order requiring Apple to make changes to its iCloud storage platform. The plaintiffs argued Apple was aware that abusive material was being stored and shared on iCloud but chose not to implement widely available technology to identify and report it.


Wise dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled. In her ruling, the judge agreed with Apple's defense that Section 230 protects online service providers from liability over user-generated content. She wrote that federal law does not require Apple to proactively use existing technology or develop new tools to identify and report child sexual abuse material on its cloud platform, adding that addressing the issue is ultimately a matter for lawmakers rather than the courts.

Wise had previously dismissed an earlier version of the complaint while allowing the plaintiffs to amend it. The latest ruling ends the case in federal district court.

A central piece of the plaintiffs' argument targeted Apple's shifting stance on photo scanning. In 2021, Apple announced a system known as NeuralHash designed to flag illegal images on devices before they were uploaded to iCloud. Apple later said it would no longer implement the system. Around the same time, the company made end-to-end encryption available for more iCloud data, a security measure it has aggressively defended against efforts to force encryption backdoors.

Apple argued in court filings that it chose other methods to combat child sexual abuse material while avoiding risks to users' security and privacy. An attorney for the plaintiffs told Reuters they are evaluating a potential appeal and looking into other legal options. While this specific federal case is closed, Apple is still facing a similar lawsuit brought by West Virginia's attorney general over the same issue.