Another Reason I Don't Like Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act

I mentioned section 230 of the Communications Decency Act in this previous post, but I will briefly discuss it again here.  Under section 230, plaintiffs are typically barred from suing websites for defamation or other causes of action arising from the conduct of third parties who post the offending material on the website.

Take this flagrantly defamatory post as an example.  This post contains almost all of the elements that make commentators upset about section 230.  For much of the post, the author implies that I have a criminal history so extensive that it reaches back beyond the date of my birth.  I would love to sue the author of this post, but unfortunately his blog and his posts are all anonymous.  The author does refer to me as a "fellow" law student, indicating that he too may be a law student.  While normally this would preclude recovery in a lawsuit due to insolvency of the defendant, the possibility remains that the author of this post is one of those lucky students who has received a job offer in these troubling economic times.

Could I sue Wordpress for accommodating this attack on my character?  The answer, unfortunately, is no.  Under section 230, Wordpress is not to be treated as the publisher of anything posted on its website by third parties.  Section 230 has been further interpreted that this will hold true even if Wordpress has a policy of policing and removing offending content.

Courts and the legislator justify section 230 because it promotes the use of online platforms and prevents chill that may arise in the event that websites could be sued for the conduct of third parties who post on the website.  This is an admirable goal, although it may need some revision in light of the internet no longer being a developing medium of communication and expression.  In the meantime, however, section 230 remains, and those of us who are defamed by anonymous fellow law students must continue to suffer.