SAN JOSE, Calif. – Websites cannot be held liable for users’ inflammatory postings, according to a California Supreme Court decision handed down on Monday.
The ruling reversed an appellate court’s previous decision, with the Supreme Court maintaining that the Communications Decency Act of 1996 provides broad immunity from defamation lawsuits in instances where a site owner publishes information gathered from an outside source.
“The prospect of blanket immunity for those who intentionally redistribute defamatory statements on the Internet has disturbing implications,” wrote Associate Justice Carol Corrigan in the majority opinion. “Nevertheless… statutory immunity serves to protect online freedom of expression and to encourage self-regulation, as Congress intended.”
The case erupted when a San Diego woman and two websites were sued by a pair of doctors about whom the woman allegedly posted libelous comments on the sites. Internet e-commerce giants like Amazon.com, America Online Inc., eBay Inc., Google Inc., Yahoo! Inc., and Microsoft all supported the defendants out of concern that a ruling for the plaintiffs would affect their business models adversely.
The decision also has major implications for adult webmaster community forums.