Legal action against Eventbrite for unlawful discrimination

[Spero]

On Oct 27 2022, Eventbrite pulled my book launch event for 'Transpositions - personal journeys into gender criticism'. This was a collection of stories from men and women about how they got involved in issues around sex and gender. Some of you may have contributed.

They told me that I was promoting 'violent and dangerous' content. I asked them to explain themselves. They haven't. So I am taking them to court for unlawful discrimination against my gender critical belief.

I wrote about it in the Critic here thecritic.co.uk/why-is-eventbrite-obstructing-my-book-launch/

I am hoping that some people may feel able to do a spot of gardening. I know its dark and miserable and not the best weather for gardening, but I think this could be quite an important piece of digging. There are some really important questions to ask about how private companies, based overseas are allowed to dictate what we think or say.

I think it would be hard to argue that you did not write a book:
”I organised a book launch for 2nd December 2022 with my co-editor Al Peters. Our book is called ‘Transpositions: a personal journey into gender criticism’.”

Your book is a compilation. Doesn’t make it any less your book. You even have copyright protection over it as a literary work. No different from the author of a cookbook having collected recipes from hundreds of peoples. No different from an author of a history book that is a compilation of testimony from eyewitnesses.

So each and everyone of those individuals are being falsely accused of 'hate' and 'violence'.. I don’t think so, you were accused of violating their community guidelines, terms of service and policy. Eventbrite US never stated that you specifically had hate or violent content or that anyone was accused of hate or violence. They stated that your “event violates our community guidelines and the terms of service, especially our policy on Hateful, Dangerous or Violent Events or Content”

Thats just the title of the policy section within the Community Guidelines that they are referring you to. Within that section of their policy, the content and/or event need only be deemed to be disparaging towards a protected individual or group to be a violatation. They don’t need to prove there is actual hate, danger or violence.

Weasel words. You can't tell people that when the words they write are deemed hateful and violent that this is no reflection on them. People can hide behind convoluted T and Cs if they wish but it's a strategy of limited use. People are angry and rightly so.

@Spero
You can't tell people that when the words they write are deemed hateful and violent that this is no reflection on them.

Well, I don’t know/haven’t seen what you published on Eventbrite US and so have no idea what words you wrote as it is now deleted. Keep in mind they don’t have to have been hateful, violent or dangerous to have violated that particular policy under the Community Guidelines. I hope you have a copy for your legal counsel to go through, they will need it. You have a right to ask Eventbrite US for all the data they hold on you, if you do not have a copy.

No wonder you were targeted.

Well, no - it's the content as a whole they are considering breaches their terms and conditions not to be discriminatory against people with a protected characteristic. It doesn't matter if all but one of your contributors is blameless, it still applies. Did they literally say hate and violence, or just refer you to their discrimination section which includes those terms?

Personally, I think this will be a really good exercise on what exactly what they consider discriminatory, and/or hateful.

We know that there are very many people who consider something discriminatory, when it's nothing of the sort. So it will be very handy to get some transparency about it.

But how can’t hey make that determination about content that is not available to them?

Eventbrite haven’t read the book. How do they know it is discriminatory? What is the basis for their determination?

can they

I have the same question Chaz. They had to have based their determination off what was posted on their page for the book launch event by the OP. Perhaps the description of it. A summary of the book. Reviewers comments about the book. Again, the minimum they had to determine was that the the content was disparaging towards a transgender individual or group to be able to invoke their Community Guidelines and unpublish the event.

They could have thought any book about gender critical beliefs is disrespectful towards transgender people and thus inherently disparaging. That would be the hope for OP, that it was the above sort of prejudicial decision motivated by discrimination.

I don’t know though. Eventbrite US would have to outline their thought process and show it was logical, reasonable, procedurally correct and that the unpublishing was a proportionate response (as opposed to sending the OP a request to edit her event announcement- an opportunity to remedy before ceasing services due to breach of contract).

Let's be clear. The ONLY content they had to consider was my anodyne and unexceptional text for the launch event. The book hasn't been published. There are no reviews. The only 'content' publicly available was a poem I tweeted about how loved a trans identifying child was by her mother.

That text remained up on the site for at least a week with no one giving a damn - until I announced that Graham Linehan would be speaking.

I will be having a conference with solicitors and counsel after Nov 16 which is date for EB response and I will keep you posted.

For the purposes of jurisdiction, Eventbrite will be an ISSP under the EqA (Information Society Services Provider). There are specific exceptions carved out in the EqAct in relation to ISSPs in EU countries, where the equality legislation of the relevant EU country will prevail.

Other than that, the EqA is deliberately silent as to its territorial scope and it comes down to facts. Would a High Court determination really find against Spero in the circumstances? As I said above, Eventbrite uses of a co.uk website to advertise both its own services to organisers and the organisers' events themselves; events held in the UK and attended by UK consumers who purchase tickets through Eventbrite via links from the UK site. You need to log in and register to a UK site to buy tickets or create an event. They even offer tailored advice to UK organisers for maximising their ticket sales in the UK using stats about UK ticket buyers:

www.eventbrite.co.uk/blog/when-do-people-buy-event-tickets-ds00/

This all screams services being provided within our jurisdiction. For Eventbrite to argue otherwise is not a good look for them and their business model - why would UK consumers or organisers risk using them, if they claim that statutory tort provisions like the EqA that protect our citizens do not apply to them when they are in the business of asking our citizens to use their Services via their UK platform? How will that go down as a publicity/marketing strategy?

Regarding the EU triggering provision in the case of a User who is not using the Eventbrite Services to further their trade, craft, business or profession (TCBP), I would say there’s room for an arguable case in favour of Spero.

Some Organisers are on the site to sell something they provide as a business e.g., a spa day. The contract between Organiser (e.g. a Hotel & Spa business) and Consumer is for a product that that the Organiser creates - the purchased ticket/voucher gets the Consumer the Spa experience. That’s a fairly straightforward case of the Organiser using the Services to further their TCBP..

Let’s say for the sake of being Devil’s advocate that Spero is in the business of selling a book. Spero is using the Eventbrite Services only to sell tickets to an event. She is not using the Services to sell books or a voucher that can be exchanged for a book. The Consumer buys a ticket to the event. That ticket gets them access to an event, it doesn’t give them Spero’s book. Spero’s side of the contract is to provide an event fulfilling its advertised description. She is not an event organiser by trade or profession, the event itself is not her business or her craft. Ticket purchasers get what they paid for by turning up to the event to hear Spero speak. Turning up to an event to hear Spero speak is all the ticket purchasers paid for. In speaking, Spero is not engaging in a business as she is not a professional speaker being paid to speak. Once the event is over, that’s the end of the contractual relationship between Spero and the ticket holder that was serviced through Eventbrite Services. If one of the ticket holders attending then goes on to buy a book from Spero, either at the event venue or from elsewhere, that’s a completely separate transaction that has not been serviced through Eventbrite Services.

You might also want to look at the Platform to Business Regulations (which are in force in the UK post Brexit). It targets providers of information society services (as I defined in the previous post) which facilitate direct transactions between business users and consumers. This includes online platforms and marketplaces, price comparison websites, social media platforms, app stores and search engines (“platforms”).

These regs have extraterritorial scope: they apply to all platforms which provide services to business users in the EU, irrespective of the location of the platform itself. In practice, if a user is established or resident in the EU and uses the platform to offer goods and services to consumers in the EU, the platform will be caught by the Regulation.

Certain unfair practices by platforms are banned: for example, suspending, terminating or otherwise restricting accounts without clear reasons is prohibited.

@MoirasSaggyBundles
That's really interesting - it's a complex area

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11412263/Lawyer-plans-sue-ticket-selling-giant-Eventbrite-pulling-tickets-trans-debate.html

@MoirasSaggyBundles
Thanks, Moira. Great job of explaining how it all fits together

I never cease to be amazed by the wide variety of top careers and experience and expertise you have covered in just one life time.

Truly you are a marvel.

Or the other thing.

My CV is quite impressive :)
Its not marvellous though.
It’s not unusual to have done lots of different roles and gained varied experiences when you literally work for an organisation that moves you to a completely new job every 2yrs (3yrs maximum). By the time you get to senior level, it’s the same, but every new job is now a top job in that field. It’s not like the private sector at all. The first 3 months, you learn your job, the 1st year you get really good at it, the 2nd year you make improvements and start putting out feelers for the next posting and then you’re posted off again. Alongside this OJT there are always formal technical qualifications to do on your own time or during intense training “business” trips. In addition there are military specific training you have to do as well even as a civil servant. Some of it is intense. We are hot housed.

It’s nothing like the private sector where people tend to focus on one core area and slowly work their way up. They also have to start at the bottom if they want to branch out, when we don’t in MoD. You keep your rank (military or civilian) when being sent off on a career broadening posting and it’s to a suitable level for that rank as well like a “deputy” or “sr advisor” position.

@MoirasSaggyBundles
Interesting post.

Honest feedback is that the devils advocate portion is fairly weak. I don’t think there has ever been a book launch “acting for purposes wholly or mainly outside” the business of selling books in the history of book launches.

Your use of the centre of gravity approach to argue that the place of performance for Eventbrite US’ services was within the U.K. and thus subject to the EqA is much stronger and much more likely to persuade.

Am on my way to Andrew Doyle's Free Speech Nation to talk some more about this. Will re-read the thread to take in all the legal points raised.

Looking forward to watching you tonight, @Spero .

Very exciting - proof copy just arrived!

Watched the GBN broadcast. Can feel the power radiating off you. :)

Let's hope Eventbrite feel the same way...

Great interview. Will you know the result of the "review" on the 16th? I guess they have to make the decision before your event or you will still have been discriminated against.