Web sites that allow user-generated content (UGC) and third-party advertising are generally immune, under the law, from liability if that third-party information turns out to be harmful. An exception to this immunity appeared in a federal appeals court decision published last year, and a recent case involving Craigslist highlights the steps Web sites should now consider taking to ensure they do not inadvertently relinquish their immunity.
Section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act (CDA) protects Web sites to the extent that they generally will not be liable for having hosted defamatory, deceptive or otherwise harmful third-party content (though CDA Section 230 does not apply to copyright or other intellectual property laws). Congress made the policy decision in Section 230 to encourage voluntary self-regulation on the Internet, letting the marketplace, rather than crippling litigation, determine good business practices. Therefore, CDA immunity remains intact even if the Web site knows about the offensive UGC and refuses to take it down.
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