Federal Court Rules that Clark Smith Villazor’s Claims, on Behalf of a Victim of Child Pornography, Should Proceed Against Social Media Platform Passes, Inc., its Founder Lucy Guo, and Others

February 5, 2026

A California federal judge, on February 4, 2026, largely denied online social-media platform Passes, Inc.’s and Passes’ founder Lucy Guo’s attempt to dismiss claims against them relating to their alleged participation in the creation, receipt, distribution, and possession of child pornography depicting CSV’s client, Alice Rosenblum.  The complaint alleges that, when Rosenblum was a 17-year-old minor, Passes and its agents, including defendants Alec Celestin and Lani Ginoza—and with Guo’s knowledge and assistance—recruited Rosenblum to create sexually explicit material of herself that was then uploaded to Passes and sold to subscribers.  The court rejected the Passes defendants’ argument that they were immune from liability under section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act and rejected Passes’ argument that the allegations were insufficient to establish its potential violation of a federal statute criminalizing the receipt, distribution, and possession of child pornography.  The Court also largely denied a motion by defendant Ginoza, which also sought dismissal of certain claims. 

A copy of the decision is here.        

If you believe that you or someone close to you has been victimized by Passes, Guo, WLM, Nofhotos, Celestin, Ginoza or anyone working in concert with them, please contact us at Passeslawsuit@csvllp.com.