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8 unusual facts about Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act


Barrett v. Rosenthal

In a unanimous decision, the court held that Rosenthal was a "user of interactive computer services" and therefore immune from liability under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

Dart v. Craigslist, Inc.

2d 961 (N.D. Ill. Oct. 20, 2009), is a decision by the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in which the court held that Craigslist, as an Internet service provider, was immune from wrongs committed by their users under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA).

Review site

Review sites act as public forums, and are legally protected from liability for the content by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA).

Ripoff Report

According to a United States law called the Communications Decency Act, 47 U.S.C. ยง 230(c), websites like the Ripoff Report are excluded from certain forms of civil liability seeking to treat the site as the "publisher or speaker" of user-generated content.

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act

Immunity for AOL was upheld against liability for a user's posting of incorrect stock information.

Immunity was upheld against claims that AOL unreasonably delayed in removing defamatory messages posted by third party, failed to post retractions, and failed to screen for similar postings.

The plaintiff, Carafano, claimed the false profile defamed her, but because the content was created by a third party, the website was immune, even though it had provided multiple choice selections to aid profile creation.

Stratton Oakmont, Inc. v. Prodigy Services Co.

In 1996, Congress effectively reversed this opinion via Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.


Fair Housing Council of San Fernando Valley v. Roommates.com, LLC

is a case in which the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, sitting en banc, held that immunity under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) did not apply to an interactive online operator whose questionnaire violated the Fair Housing Act.

Young v. Facebook, Inc.

Eric Goldman, an internet law professor at Santa Clara University, noted that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act could well apply to at least some of Young's claims from the second complaint.


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