Chestnut Ridge, New York, about 30 miles northwest of midtown Manhattan, violated Section 704 of the Communications Act through its “unreasonable and unsupportable denials” of T-Mobile’s applications to build a 105-foot monopole cell tower, alleged the carrier’s complaint Friday (docket 7:23-cv-05852) in U.S. District Court for Southern New York in White Plains. The eight-count complaint seeks a finding that the denials were illegal because they weren’t based on substantial evidence contained in the written record, plus an order mandating that the village “immediately issue T-Mobile all necessary permits and authorizations.”

Here are Communications Litigation Today's top stories from last week, in case you missed them. Each can be found by searching on its title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

The FCC was in the hot seat Tuesday at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which heard oral argument in League of California Cities v. FCC (case 20-71765) on a challenge to a wireless siting declaratory ruling approved in June 2020 under former Chairman Ajit Pai (see 2006090060).

With a week to spare before the July 18 termination date of Microsoft’s proposed Activision Blizzard buy, U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley for Northern California in San Francisco denied the FTC's motion for a preliminary injunction, ruling in a 53-page opinion Tuesday (docket 23-cv-02880) that the FTC didn't make a strong enough case to block the transaction (see 2307110031).

One of the “central prerogatives” of the president and executive branch officials is to speak to members of the U.S. public, including American companies, “about how they can help mitigate threats,” said DOJ’s emergency motion Monday (docket 23-30445) at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to stay the preliminary injunction that bars Biden administration officials from conversing with social media companies for the purposes of moderating content (see 2307100045). The plaintiffs, including the Republican attorneys general of Louisiana and Missouri, oppose the emergency motion, said DOJ.

AT&T Global Services’ facts are “inaccurate” regarding breach of contract, said plaintiff EDN Global in a Thursday brief (docket 3:23-cv-00355) in opposition to defendant’s motion to dismiss in U.S. District Court for Northern Texas in Dallas.

Saying the First Amendment free speech rights of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against dozens of Biden defendant administration officials “by far” outweigh the defendants’ "interests," U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty for Western Louisiana in Monroe denied DOJ’s motion to stay his July 4 injunction or alternatively for a seven-day administrative stay. The injunction bars the officials from "engaging in any communication of any kind” with social-media companies for the purpose of suppressing right-leaning content that constitutes protected free speech.

The Onix Group failed to secure and safeguard about 320,000 individuals’ personally identifiable information (PII) and personal health information (PHI) during a March data breach in its healthcare business, said plaintiffs Thomas Jones and Leah Simione in a class action (docket 2:23-cv-02621) Friday in U.S. District Court for Eastern Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. It's the fourth fraud complaint filed against Onix in less than a month.

Government efforts to restrict minors from accessing online content “have repeatedly been struck down,” especially when they impede the First Amendment rights of adults as well, and Arkansas' social media age verification law “should meet the same fate,” said NetChoice. It filed a memorandum Friday (docket 5:23-cv-05105) in U.S. District Court for Western Arkansas in Fayetteville in support of its motion for a preliminary injunction to block Attorney General Tim Griffin (R) from enforcing the measure when it takes effect Sept. 1 (see 2306300001).

Communications Litigation Today is tracking the following lawsuits involving appeals of FCC actions: