Old Man Jingles
Rat out of a cage
Section 230 sits at the heart of a major question about the modern Internet:
How much responsibility should fall to online platforms for how their users act and get treated?
No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information
Section 230 lives inside the Communications Decency Act of 1996, and it gives websites broad legal immunity: With some exceptions, online platforms can't be sued for something posted by a user — and that remains true even if they act a little like publishers, by moderating posts or setting specific standards.
Section 230 protects some of the darkest corners of the Web.
Most egregiously, the law has been used to defend Backpage.com, a website featuring ads for sex with children forced into prostitution.
Over the years, victims and their families brought case after case against Backpage — and lost. The website kept convincing judges across the country that Section 230 shielded it from liability for the posts of its users.
Major digital-rights groups, including the Center for Democracy and Technology, argued that holding Backpage liable could have chilling effects for social media and other websites.
In 2017, the Supreme Court declined to hear victims' appeal in the case of Backpage and Section 230.
How much responsibility should fall to online platforms for how their users act and get treated?
No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information
provided by another information content provider. 47 U.S. Code § 230
Section 230 lives inside the Communications Decency Act of 1996, and it gives websites broad legal immunity: With some exceptions, online platforms can't be sued for something posted by a user — and that remains true even if they act a little like publishers, by moderating posts or setting specific standards.
Section 230 protects some of the darkest corners of the Web.
Most egregiously, the law has been used to defend Backpage.com, a website featuring ads for sex with children forced into prostitution.
Over the years, victims and their families brought case after case against Backpage — and lost. The website kept convincing judges across the country that Section 230 shielded it from liability for the posts of its users.
Major digital-rights groups, including the Center for Democracy and Technology, argued that holding Backpage liable could have chilling effects for social media and other websites.
In 2017, the Supreme Court declined to hear victims' appeal in the case of Backpage and Section 230.
