California Supreme Court: Yelp can't be ordered to remove posts

A divided California Supreme Court has ruled that online review site Yelp.com cannot be ordered to remove posts against a San Francisco (CA) law firm that a judge determined were defamatory. The 4-3 ruling came in a closely watched case that internet companies warned could be used to silence online speech. A San Francisco judge determined the posts against attorney Dawn Hassell’s firm were defamatory and ordered Yelp in 2014 to remove them. A second judge and a state appeals court upheld the decision. Yelp.com urged the state Supreme Court to overturn the ruling, saying it could lead to the removal of negative reviews on the popular website.