Section 230
Section 230 of Title 47 of the U.S. Code outlines protection for private blocking and screening of offensive material.
It is often called Section 230 for shorthand.
The law reads:
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 1996, Congress added Section 230 to Title 47, a mirror to a 1950s-era law that protected books sellers from being sued if a book sold within their store contained obscene, lewd, or offensive material. Section 230 protects online service providers of such spaces such as social media sites, message boards, and other interactive spaces on the internet from being sued if a user posts obscene, lewd, false, defamatory, or other offensive material. In other words, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Gabb, etc. are not publishers of the content posted on them, and therefore cannot be held liable for what users post.
On first reference, use Protection for Private Blocking and Screening of Offensive Material, also known as Section 230. On subsequent references, use Section 230.
Also see Title 47.
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