Difference between revisions of "Section 230"

MyWikiBiz, Author Your Legacy — Monday December 30, 2024
Jump to navigationJump to search
(New page: '''Section 230'' is - what? ==Section 230 and Wikipedia ==)
 
Line 1: Line 1:
'''Section 230'' is - what?
+
'''Section 230''' of the [[Communications Decency Act]] of 1996 (a common name for Title V of the [[Telecommunications Act of 1996]]) is a landmark piece of [[Internet]] legislation in the United States.  Section 230(c)(1) provides immunity from liability for providers and users of an "interactive computer service" who publish information provided by others:
 +
<blockquote>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. </blockquote>
 +
 
 +
In analyzing the availability of the immunity offered by this provision, courts generally apply a three-prong test. A defendant must satisfy each of the three prongs to gain the benefit of the immunity:
 +
# The defendant must be a "provider or user" of an "interactive computer service."
 +
# The cause of action asserted by the plaintiff must "treat" the defendant "as the publisher or speaker" of the harmful information at issue.
 +
# The information must be "provided by another information content provider," i.e., the defendant must not be the "information content provider" of the harmful information at issue.
  
 
==Section 230 and Wikipedia ==
 
==Section 230 and Wikipedia ==

Revision as of 10:37, 20 July 2008

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 (a common name for Title V of the Telecommunications Act of 1996) is a landmark piece of Internet legislation in the United States. Section 230(c)(1) provides immunity from liability for providers and users of an "interactive computer service" who publish information provided by others:

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.

In analyzing the availability of the immunity offered by this provision, courts generally apply a three-prong test. A defendant must satisfy each of the three prongs to gain the benefit of the immunity:

  1. The defendant must be a "provider or user" of an "interactive computer service."
  2. The cause of action asserted by the plaintiff must "treat" the defendant "as the publisher or speaker" of the harmful information at issue.
  3. The information must be "provided by another information content provider," i.e., the defendant must not be the "information content provider" of the harmful information at issue.

Section 230 and Wikipedia