Honnen-Smith-Article

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) is generally considered the most important statutory provision relating to the Internet today. The CDA’s Section 230 grants interactive online platforms comprehensive and broad statutory civil immunity against liability for the uploaded user-generated content on their platforms, including immunity from defamation.
When Congress enacted the CDA in 1996, it created Section 230 to grant then-fledgling Internet platforms these broad immunities “to promote the continued development of the Internet…” Section 230 immunities are unprecedented—not even publishers or news-reporting organizations enjoy immunity from defamation liability. This immunity significantly helped companies like Facebook, Twitter, and Google become powerful social media platform juggernauts capable of influencing public debate and ideas.