Gubarev v. Buzzfeed, Inc.

253 F. Supp. 3d 1149, 2017 WL 2293550, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 121805
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Florida
DecidedMay 22, 2017
DocketCase No. 1:17-cv-60426-UU
StatusPublished
Cited by22 cases

This text of 253 F. Supp. 3d 1149 (Gubarev v. Buzzfeed, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gubarev v. Buzzfeed, Inc., 253 F. Supp. 3d 1149, 2017 WL 2293550, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 121805 (S.D. Fla. 2017).

Opinion

ORDER

Ursula Ungaro, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

THIS CAUSE comes before the Court upon Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss or Transfer. D.E. 15.

THE COURT has considered the Motion, the pertinent portions of the record and is otherwise fully advised in the premises.

FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS

The following facts are taken from Plaintiffs’ Complaint for Damages. D.E. 1-3.

1.The Plaintiffs

Plaintiff, Aleksej Gubarev (“Gubarev”), is an individual who resides in the Republic of Cyprus. Id. ¶ 6. Gubarev is a venture capitalist who founded Webzilla Limited, which is a company that specializes in internet hosting, data, and web development. Id. ¶ 16. Webzilla Limited is the predecessor to Plaintiff, XBT Holding S.A. (“XBT Holding”), an international business with offices in Texas and Florida, among other locations. Id. ¶¶ 16-17. Gubarev is presently the Chairman, CEO, and Director of Plaintiff, XBT Holding, which also has a number of subsidiaries, including Plaintiff, Webzilla, Inc. (“Webzilla”). Id. ¶ 7. Webzil-la is a Florida corporation with offices in Fort Lauderdale. Id. ¶ 8.

2. The Defendants

Defendant, Ben Smith (“Smith”) is an individual who .resides in New York and is the Editor-in-Chief of Defendant, Buz-zfeed, Inc. (“Buzzfeed”). Id. ¶ 10. Buzzfeed is an international corporation with offices in “18 cities around the world including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, Sydney, Sao Paulo, and Tokyo.” Id. ¶ 9. Buzzfeed owns and operates the Buzzfeed.com website, as well as the Buz-zfeed mobile application. Id.

3. Publication of the Defamatory Article

On January 10, 2017, Defendants, Buz-zfeed and Smith (collectively, the “Defendants”), published an online article entitled, “These Reports Allege Trump Has Deep Ties to Russia” (the “Article”). Id. ¶ 23. The Article attached a 35-page unverified “dossier” (the “Dossier”) of information that was compiled by a private security company. Id. ¶ 24. The Dossier included, among other things, allegations that persons or organizations with ties to Russia, the Russian Government, and/or the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation engaged in computer hacking of the Democratic Party. Id. ¶ 25. Of particular relevance to this case, the Dossier included unverified statements about Plaintiffs, Gubarev, XBT Holding, and Webzilla (collectively, the “Plaintiffs”), and their alleged involvement in the hacking. Id. ¶ 26.

Prior to the Dossier’s publication, neither Buzzfeed nor Smith contacted Plaintiffs to determine if the statements concerning Plaintiffs had any basis in fact. Id. ¶ 28. Smith has admitted that Buzzfeed knew at the time it published the Article and the Dossier that there were “real solid reasons to distrust” the veracity of the contents of the Dossier. Id. ¶ 31. Despite these concerns, however, Buzzfeed and [1153]*1153Smith took no steps to redact Plaintiffs’ names from the Dossier, and instead, published it in its entirety. Id. ¶ 32.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On February 3, 2017, Plaintiffs filed their Complaint for Damages against Defendants, alleging one claim for defamation and defamation per se under Florida law in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit in and for Broward County, Florida. D.E. 1-3. In their Complaint, Plaintiffs alleged that the Court has personal jurisdiction over Defendants pursuant to Florida Statute section 48.193(1)(b)1 because Defendants posted defamatory materials concerning Plaintiffs on their website and through Buzzfeed’s mobile application, which were accessible and were accessed in Florida, and such conduct constitutes the commission of the tortious act of defamation for purposes of Florida’s long-arm statute under section 48.193. Id. ¶ 12. In addition, Plaintiffs alleged, that the Court has personal jurisdiction over Defendants pursuant to Florida Statute section 48.193 because:

a) Defendants have caused injury to persons or property within Florida, arising out of acts or omissions undertaken outside of the state and Defendants regularly solicit advertising and viewers within Florida; and
b) Defendants have committed intentional torts expressly aimed at one or more of the Plaintiffs, the effects of which were suffered in this jurisdiction. Defendants’ intentional conduct was calculated to cause injury to one or more of the Plaintiffs in Florida and has caused injury to one or more of the Plaintiffs in Florida. Based on their intentional torts, Defendants should have reasonably anticipated being haled into Court.

Id. ¶ 13(a)-(b).

On February 28, 2017, Defendants removed this case pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1446 to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida on the basis of this Court’s diversity jurisdiction because the parties are diverse and the damages exceed $75,000. D.E. 1.

On March 14, 2017, Defendants filed the instant Motion to Dismiss or Transfer. D.E. 15. In their Motion, Defendants request that this Court dismiss Plaintiffs Complaint for lack of personal jurisdiction pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(2), or in the alternative, that this Court transfer the case to the Southern District of New York pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a). Id.

ANALYSIS

In their Motion to Dismiss, Defendants move: (1) to dismiss this case based upon lack of personal jurisdiction pursuant to Rule 12(b)(2), or (2) to transfer this case to the Southern District of New York pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a). D.E. 15. The Court separately addresses the parties’ arguments pertaining to these issues.

I. DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS BASED UPON LACK OF PERSONAL JURISDICTION PURSUANT TO FED. R. CIV. P. 12(B)(2)

A. Legal Standard

In deciding a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction under Federal [1154]*1154Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(2), the Court must undertake a two-part analysis. First, it must determine whether the Florida long-arm statute provides a basis for personal jurisdiction.1 See Future Tech. Today, Inc. v. OSF Healthcare Sys., 218 F.3d 1247, 1249 (11th Cir. 2000). If the statute is satisfied, the court must inquire as to whether sufficient minimum contacts exist between the defendant and Florida so as to satisfy traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. See id.

A plaintiff seeking to establish personal jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant “bears the initial burden of alleging in the complaint sufficient facts to make out a prima facie case of jurisdiction.” Louis Vuitton Malletier, S.A. v. Mosseri, 736 F.3d 1339, 1350 (11th Cir. 2013) (citing United Techs. Corp. v. Mazer,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
253 F. Supp. 3d 1149, 2017 WL 2293550, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 121805, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gubarev-v-buzzfeed-inc-flsd-2017.